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o- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE 


. 

( 


BY 


LUCIA 

AUTHOR  OF  "GREAT  THOUGHTS  FOR  LITTLE  THINKERS" 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND  COMPANY 

(fcfoe  fitocrsibe  Pretfs",  Cambrtt)0e 


Copyright,  1889, 
Bv  LUCIA  TKUE  AMES. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Prest,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  IT.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  aud  Printed  by  II.  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


TO 

MY  ONLY  BROTHER,  CHARLES  H.  AMES. 


Written  for  all  men  and  women  to  whom  the  privilege  of  American 
citizenship  has  been  vouchsafed,  and  to  whom  the  stewardship  of 
wealth  has  been  entrusted. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


SINCE  the  recent  death  of  the  noble  woman  whose 
name  has  become  a  household  word  all  over  our 
land,  and  whose  memoirs  form  the  subject  of  this 
volume,  I  have  been  repeatedly  importuned  to  give 
to  the  public  some  account  of  her  remarkable  life. 

It  is  too  soon  yet  to  present  an  adequate  biogra- 
phy, and  for  such  a  task  I  should  consider  myself 
entirely  unfitted.  I  have,  however,  endeavored, 
though  somewhat  hastily,  to  put  together  such  ma- 
terial, chiefly  selections  from  newspaper  reports, 
letters,  and  diaries,  as  shall  throw  light  upon  the 
numerous  projects  that  were  the  outcome  of  her 
thought  and  generosity,  and  which  in  certain  ways 
are  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  those  whose 
wealth  has  been  devoted  to  the  cause  of  humanity. 

Cut  off  in  the  full  ripeness  of  early  womanhood, 
her  work  was  nevertheless  accomplished,  and  mil- 
lions shall  in  the  ages  to  come  reap  perennial  har- 
vests from  the  seed  which  in  one  short  year  her 
wisdom  and  foresight  sowed  far  aud  wide. 


vi  PREFACE. 

The  world  at  large  will  know  somewhat  of  her 
work;  but  only  to  those  who  knew  her  best,  to 
whom  she  revealed  the  warmth  and  intensity  of 
her  strong  nature,  can  the  full  beauty  of  her  life 
be  known. 

The  constant,  subtle  charm  of  her  manner,  now 
gracious  and  dignified,  now  unconsciously  nai've 
and  simple,  only  a  master  could  portray.  I  must 
content  myself,  therefore,  with  giving,  in  simplest 
words,  but  a  few  of  the  many  reminiscences  that 
memory  brings  back  of  those  moments  which  may 
serve  to  make  clear  the  thoughts  and  purposes  that 
were  the  mainspring  of  all  her  action,  and  which 
made  her  what  she  was,  the  noblest  woman  I  have 
ever  known. 

I  have  hesitated  about  using  the  word  "  Mem- 
oirs "  in  the  title  of  this  volume.  That  word  has  a 
somewhat  doleful  and  funereal  sound,  suggestive 
of  anything  but  the  bright,  vigorous  life  of  her 
who  was  so  intensely  warm  and  alive.  But  perhaps 
there  is  no  other  word  that  so  well  expresses  what 
I  have  here  put  together,  and  so  I  leave  it  as  I 
wrote  it  first,  "  Memoirs  of  a  Millionaire." 

BOSTON,  June  7,  189-. 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  class  of  which  I  speak  make  themselves  merry  without 
duties.  They  sit  in  decorated  club-houses  in  the,  cities,  and  burn 
tobacco  and  play  whist ;  in  the  country  they  sit  idle  in  stores  and 
bar-rooms,  and  burn  tobacco,  and  gossip  and  sleep.  They  com- 
plain of  the  flatness  of  American  life  ;  America  has  no  illusions, 
no  romance.  They  have  no  perception  of  its  destiny.  They  are 
not  Americans.  —  EMERSON,  The  Fortune  of  the  Republic. 

IT  was  on  the  evening  of  election  day  that  I 
first  saw  her.  I  had  come  up  from  Salem  to 
Boston,  to  spend  the  night  and  hear  Booth  and 
Barrett  the  next  day,  and  I  had  gone  to  dine  at 
aunt  Madison's  on  Louisburg  Square. 

The  lamps  had  not  been  lighted,  and  we  were  all 
sitting  cosily  around  the  open  grate  after  dinner, 
talking  over  the  matinSe,  and  jesting  with  two  or 
three  of  Will's  college  friends  who  were  there  for 
the  evening,  when  the  portiere  was  noiselessly 
drawn  aside,  and  Mildred  Brewster  came  in  with  a 
cheery  good  evening. 

I  can  recall  now  just  how  she  looked,  as,  after 
the  introductions  were  over,  she  stood  leaning  on 
the  back  of  aunt  Madison's  chair,  with  the  ruddy 


2  MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 

glow  of  the  firelight  on  her  face,  and  her  lithe 
figure  dimly  outlined  against  the  shadowy  back- 
ground. 

I  did  not  notice  her  much  at  first,  for,  after  her 
blithe  greeting,  on  seeing  strangers  she  had  drawn 
back  into  the  shadow  and  sat  so  quietly  that  I, 
carrying  on  a  gay  banter  with  the  young  men, 
had  almost  forgotten  her. 

I  do  not  remember  what  was  said  at  first.  It 
did  not  make  much  impression  on  me  at  the  time, 
until,  after  a  while,  the  talk  grew  a  little  more 
serious,  and  the  young  men  began  to  speak  of  their 
plans  for  the  future.  They  were  all  seniors,  and 
each  of  them,  except  Will,  had  plenty  of  money 
in  his  own  right,  with  apparently  nothing  in  life 
more  burdensome  to  do  than  to  draw  checks  and 
order  dinners  at  Young's. 

They  were  a  handsome  trio,  broad-chested,  keen- 
eyed,  clad  in  the  daintiest  of  linen  from  Noyes 
Brothers,  —  "  the  jolliest  swells  in  the  class,"  Will 
called  them. 

Aunt  Madison  asked  them,  apropos  of  the  elec- 
tion, how  they  had  voted,  for  they  were  all  resi- 
dents of  Boston  and  had  passed  their  majority. 
They  were  evidently  rather  amused  at  the  query, 
but  each  and  all  politely  replied  that  they  had  n't 
much  enthusiasm  about  voting,  and  it  having  been 
a  rainy  day,  they  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  go 
to  the  polls. 

"  You  see,  the  fact  is,"  said  the  young  man  with 
the  blonde  mustache  whom  Will  called  Ned  Conro, 
"  voting  is  a  confounded  bore,  any  way." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  3 

"  But  of  course  you  have  an  interest  in  national 
politics,  if  not  in  municipal  affairs  ? "  said  aunt 
Madison,  inquiringly,  as  she  looked  up  from  her 
knitting  and  beamed  benevolently  at  the  young 
man  through  her  gold-bowed  spectacles.  "  I  sup- 
pose you  young  men  at  Harvard,  with  all  your 
study  of  history  and  political  economy,  are  wide 
awake  about  all  these  things." 

"  Oh,  we  talk  free  trade  and  protection  more  or 
less,  that  is,  the  fellows  did  who  took  that  course 
of  study  last  year.  I  don't  go  in  for  that  sort  of 
thing  myself  very  much ;  my  money  is  n't  in  manu- 
factures, and  I  don't  care  a  continental  about  the 
tariff  one  way  or  the  other.  And  as  for  politics, 
—  of  course  we  all  go  in  for  the  hurrah  and  fun  in 
a  presidential  campaign,  but  I  don't  look  forward 
to  doing  anything  further  in  that  line  after  I  grad- 
uate. It  is  all  well  enough  for  any  one  who  has  a 
fancy  for  it  and  who  wants  to  run  for  office,  and 
that  sort  of  thing.  But  there  can't  be  more  than 
two  senators  and  one  governor  in  a  state  at  a  time, 
and  anything  less  than  that  is  n't  worth  the  trouble. 

"I've  mighty  little  respect  for  any  man  who 
condescends  to  be  a  ward  politician.  Boston  is  an 
Irish  city,  after  all,  though  last  year  some  of  the 
better  class  got  their  blood  up  and  had  a  clearing 
out ;  but  the  game  is  n't  worth  the  candle,  and  I, 
for  one,  am  willing  to  let  the  Irish  go  the  whole 
figure  if  they  wish  to  do  it.  We  can't  get  rid  of 
them,  and  it  does  n't  pay  to  mix  up  with  them.  I 
don't  propose  to  vote  to  have  my  father,  or  any 


4  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

other  gentleman  of  good  old  New  England  stock, 
sit  beside  some  liquor-seller  or  grocer  as  common 
councilman  or  alderman." 

"Neither  do  I,"  ejaculated  my  vis-a-vis,  whom 
Will  had  introduced  as  Mr.  Mather ;  "  a  fellow 
who  begins  to  bother  his  head  about  all  these  lit- 
tle twopenny  municipal  affairs  only  soils  his  hands 
for  his  pains,  and  does  n't  improve  matters  one 
atom.  It 's  well  enough  to  vote  if  one  wants  to, 
but  what  does  a  single  vote  amount  to  ?  It  counts 
no  more  when  cast  by  a  Harvard  professor  than  by 
some  South  Cove  '  Mick.'  Suppose  Mr.  Smith  and 
Mr.  Brown  are  up  for  school  committee  ;  you  don't 
know  a  thing  about  either  of  them,  except  that 
they  are  nominated  by  a  set  of  rummies  and  dema- 
gogues, or  else  by  a  lot  of  women  or  pious  tem- 
perance cranks.  You  are  a  professional  man  and 
your  time  is  worth  ten  dollars  an  hour,  —  you 
don't  care  a  fig  about  the  whole  school  committee 
business  anyway ;  it 's  the  women's  affair  —  they 
can  vote  on  that.  Let  them  turn  oat  and  manage 
it  as  they  did  last  year,  if  they  want  to  ;  but  you 
can't  expect  a  man  to  look  after  these  matters,  and 
be  elbowed  and  hooted  down  at  the  caucuses,  if  he 
has  the  tastes  of  a  gentleman  and  all  the  responsi- 
bilities of  a  profession  or  a  large  business  on  his 
shoulders." 

"  The  fact  is  that  in  municipal  matters  the  ballot 
ought  to  be  put  on  a  property  basis,  and  until 
that  is  done,  I  shall  bother  myself  precious  little 
about  it,"  remarked  the  third  young  gentleman, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  5 

twirling  his  seal  and  addressing  his  three  feminine 
listeners. 

I  wondered  why  Mildred's  cheeks  had  grown  so 
rosy  and  why  her  dark  eyes  had  such  a  gleam  in 
them  as  she  laid  down  the  bit  of  embroidery  on 
which  her  fingers  had  been  busy,  and  turned  to- 
ward the  speaker.  "  What  a  profile  !  "  I  thought ; 
"  almost  pure  Greek,  only  the  chin  is  a  little  too 
square." 

"  The  truth  is,"  the  young  man  continued,  "  we 
have  no  great  men  now  and  no  great  issues,  unless 
you  call  all  this  frenzy  about  the  school  question  a 
great  issue.  We  've  got  to  come  to  see  that  the 
government  has  no  right  to  tax  its  citizens  to  teach 
history,  anyway.  It 's  an  imposition  to  tax  a  man 
to  send  some  one  else's  child  to  a  high  school.  Let 
the  state  give  a  child  the  three  R's,  and  then  if 
he  wants  to  learn  about  Tetzel  or  Luther,  let  his 
father  pay  to  have  him  taught  in  his  own  way. 
Politics  is  no  profession  for  a  young  man.  There 's 
no  great  amount  of  money  in  it,  unless  you  're 
mighty  shrewd,  and  tricky,  too ;  and  as  for  fame, 
the  man  must  be  pretty  thick-skinned  who  can 
stand  the  pelting  which  every  reputation  gets  now- 
adays, and  not  wince  under  it.  For  my  part,  I 
think  democracy  is  a  good  deal  played  out.  It 
was  all  right  so  long  as  men  were  equal;  but 
we  're  getting  about  as  stratified  a  society  now  as 
there  is  anywhere  in  the  Old  World ;  and  there  's 
no  use  in  the  sentimental  every-man-a-brother  kind 
of  talk.  I  don't  propose  to  shake  the  greasy  hand 


6  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

of  any  of  these  beastly  foreigners  that  are  coming 
here  and  crowding  us  to  the  wall.  I  don't  grudge 
them  the  rights  of  American  citizenship ;  they 
may  have  it  and  welcome,  if  they  want  it;  but 
where  they  step  in  I  step  out.  In  fact,  I  think  I 
shall  settle  down  in  Paris  or  Florence  for  a  while. 
There  's  lots  more  fun  for  a  fellow  over  there." 

There  was  more  of  this  sort  of  talk.  I  watched 
Mildred's  face,  and  noticed  that  her  lips  were 
twitching  and  her  fingers  playing  nervously  with 
the  fringe  of  a  scarlet  silk  shawl  which  she  wore. 
Evidently  she  was  under  some  stress  of  strong 
emotion,  though  for  what  reason  I  but  vaguely 
guessed.  She  had  come  out  of  the  shadow,  and 
stood  tall  and  stately,  with  her  arm  resting  on  the 
mantel  and  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  speakers  with 
such  a  look  as  I  had  never  before  seen  on  any 
countenance.  There  was  anger  and  pity  and  con- 
tempt, strangely  mingled,  on  her  mobile  features. 
She  had  forgotten  herself,  and  I  think  they  were 
fairly  startled  at  the  look  they  read  in  her  tell-tale 
face. 

Will  made  an  attempt  to  change  the  subject, 
but  Mr.  Mather  broke  in :  "  You  look  as  though 
you  did  not  agree  with  us,  Miss  Brewster.  Come, 
we  have  monopolized  the  conversation  so  far,  now 
tell  us  what  you  think." 

She  did  not  speak  at  first,  and  there  was  an 
awkward  silence  for  a  minute.  When  it  was 
broken,  her  voice  sounded  so  painfully  hard  and 
calm  in  its  effort  not  to  tremble  that  I  scarcely 
recognized  it. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  1 

"  Within  two  weeks,"  she  said,  speaking  slowly, 
"I  have  sat  for  five  hours  face  to  face  with  the 
leading  anarchists  of  New  England.  I  have  ques- 
tioned them,  and  they  have  told  me  frankly  of 
their  doctrines,  which  you  already  know,  and 
which,  I  scarcely  need  to  say,  I  heartily  detest. 
But  I  have  not  heard,  either  from  the  lips  of  these 
misguided  men  or  from  any  one  for  many  months, 
anything  which  has  so  shocked  and  surprised  me 
as  what  I  have  just  listened  to  here." 

I  felt  that  she  was  trembling  as  she  spoke,  but 
her  voice  was  low  and  quiet. 

She  continued  :  "  When  one  is  filled  with  indig- 
nation and  grief  it  is  difficult  to  speak  justly  and 
wisely,  and  therefore,  if  you  will  excuse  me,  I  think 
that  I  will  not  trust  myself  to  say  anything  fur- 
ther." 

"  Good  heavens !  "  cried  Mr.  Mather,  staring  at 
her  in  undisguised  amazement,  while  his  compan- 
ions glanced  slyly  at  each  other  with  faint  smiles 
and  an  evident  endeavor  to  make  the  best  of  an 
embarrassing  situation. 

"  I  think,  dear,  you  had  better  tell  them  what 
you  are  thinking  of,  lest  they  misunderstand  you  ; 
of  course  you  don't  mean  that  they  are  worse  than 
anarchists,"  said  aunt  Madison,  gently. 

"  No,  not  worse,  but  more  to  blame,"  replied 
Miss  Brewster,  with  extraordinary  candor,  and 
then  recollecting  herself,  a  crimson  tide  suddenly 
mantled  her  neck  and  cheek  and  brow,  and  she 
drew  back  again  into  the  shadow. 


8  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  she  stammered  ;  and  then 
with  a  little  forced  laugh  she  added,  "  you  see,  you 
ought  n't  to  have  tempted  me  to  speak.  I  was  sure 
to  give  offense  if  I  spoke  my  thoughts." 

"  All,  but  we  can't  excuse  you  unless  you  go  on," 
said  Ned  Conro,  persuasively.  "  As  for  me,  you 
have  whetted  my  curiosity  so  that  I  shan't  sleep  a 
wink  to-night,"  he  went  on,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  "  unless  I  know  why  my  father's  son  and  heir, 
who  has  hitherto  supposed  himself  to  be  always  on 
the  side  of  law  and  order,  is  more  to  blame  than 
these  foreign  wretches  who  have  come  over  here 
with  the  notion  in  their  addled  heads  that  they  are 
going  to  upset  this  nineteenth-century  civilization 
with  a  few  ounces  of  dynamite." 

Mr.  Gordon  echoed  Mr.  Conro's  request,  while  a 
quizzical  smile  played  around  his  lips,  and  I  knew 
as  well  as  if  he  had  told  me,  that  he  was  saying  to 
himself,  "  Gad,  she  's  a  specimen !  One  of  these 
cranky  women' s-righters,  no  doubt.  How  they  do 
like  to  hold  forth !  These  girls  always  spoil  a  fel- 
low's fun  with  their  high  and  mighty  theories  and 
ideas."  And  this  son  of  a  quadruple  millionaire 
thrust  his  hands  deep  into  the  pockets  of  his  Eng- 
lish trousers  and  stretched  himself  comfortably  to 
listen,  with  all  the  complacent  condescension  of  a 
man  to  whom  twenty-two  years  of  experience  and 
masculine  wisdom  gave  a  consciousness  of  virtuous 
superiority. 

The  flush  had  faded  from  Mildred's  cheek,  but  I 
fancied  from  the  look  in  her  eyes  that  she  was  in 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

no  mood  to  be  trifled  with  ;  this  was  no  mere  pass- 
ing gust  of  passion.  She  had  received  a  wound 
which  had  cut  her  to  the  quick  ;  for,  as  I  afterwards 
learned  to  know,  hers  was  one  of  those  rare  natures, 
rare  in  men,  rarer  still  in  women,  which  scarcely 
feels  a  personal  slight,  but  to  which  a  grand,  ab- 
sorbing idea  is  more  real  and  vital  than  all  else, 
and  which  counts  treason  to  this  the  unpardonable 
sin. 

"If  I  speak,  I  must  speak  plainly,"  said  Mil- 
dred. "  I  have  neither  time  nor  wit  to  clothe  my 
thoughts  in  ambiguous,  inoffensive  words.  Like 
plain,  blunt  Antony,  I  can  only  '  speak  right  on ' 
and  say  '  what  in  my  heart  doth  beat  and  burn.' ' 

"  Good,  I  like  that,"  said  Mr.  Mather  gravely, 
and  there  was  an  instant's  silence,  broken  only  by 
the  chime  of  the  cathedral  clock  as  it  struck  the 
hour. 

"I  have  been  thinking,"  said  Mildred  quietly, 
"  of  those  words  in  that  record  of  the  young  He- 
brew, who,  it  is  said,  sold  his  birthright  for  a  mess 
of  pottage.  I  have  been  thinking  also  of  those 
words  of  our  own  Emerson :  '  We  live  in  a  new 
and  exceptional  age.  America  is  another  name 
for  Opportunity.  Our  whole  history  appears  like 
a  last  effort  of  Providence  in  behalf  of  the  human 
race.'  Perhaps  you  do  not  see  the  connection  be- 
tween these  two  thoughts,  but  to  me  it  seems  very 
close.  To  have  for  one's  inheritance  the  birthright 
of  American  citizenship  seems  to  me  something  so 
rich  and  precious  that  to  despise  it  and  ignobly  sell 


10  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

it,  —  not  like  Esau  for  the  mess  of  pottage  which 
could  relieve  his  hunger,  —  but  to  sell  it  to  the 
stranger  for  the  sake  of  gaining  immunity  from 
responsibility,  yes,  more  than  that,  throwing  it 
away  out  of  sheer  contempt  for  it  and  ingratitude 
for  what  it  has  done  for  one,  this  seems  to  me  the 
acme  of  cowardice  and  selfishness." 

I  noticed  that  Mr.  Mather  knit  his  brows  at  this, 
and  I  thought  I  detected  a  slight  flush  in  his 
cheeks,  but  perhaps  it  was  only  the  firelight.  Mil- 
dred did  not  look  up  or  hesitate,  but  went  steadily 
on. 

"  We  sit  here  in  the  Promised  Land 
That  flows  with  Freedom's  honey  and  milk ; 
But 'twas  they  won  it,  sword  in  hand, 
Making  the  nettle  danger  soft  for  us  as  silk." 

"  Yes,  they  won  it,  not  we ;  and  we,  the  heirs  of 
all  the  ages,  for  whom  the  whole  creation  has 
groaned  and  travailed  until  now,  we,  the  favored 
children  of  the  best  age,  the  best  land  which  his- 
tory has  known,  we  idly  fold  our  hands  and  let  the 
wealth  of  all  the  past,  which  others  have  toiled  for 
and  shed  bloody  sweat  to  gain,  fall  into  our  laps  as 
a  matter  of  course,  as  if  it  were  but  the  just  due  of 
such  lordly  creatures  as  we. 

"  Of  what  value,  pray,  is  all  our  study  of  history 
if  we  have  so  little  realizing  sense  of  its  meaning, 
if  we  have  no  imagination  to  fill  out  with  quivering, 
throbbing  life  this  record  of  the  past,  which  shows 
what  mankind  has  been,  and  what,  thank  God,  we 
have  escaped  ? 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  11 

"  Of  what  value  are  the  sacrifices  of  those  who 
at  bitter  cost  bought  us  our  freedom  and  privilege, 
if  we  are  so  lost  to  all  sense  of  honor  as  to  tacitly 
say,  '  everything  has  been  done  for  us,  to  be  sure, 
but  we  can't  be  expected  to  go  out  of  our  way  to 
see  that  it  is  passed  along  to  those  who  are  less 
favored '  ?  " 

Mr.  Mather  made  a  gesture  of  dissent  and  looked 
up  as  if  to  speak ;  but  Mildred  did  not  notice  him. 
She  was  gazing  with  fixed  eyes  into  the  shadows, 
and  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her 'little  audience 
and  to  be  addressing  herself  to  an  unnumbered 
throng  of  unseen  listeners.  Her  bosom  heaved  and 
her  breath  came  and  went  quickly  as  she  went  on 
with  her  relentless  sarcasm. 

"  Yes,  our  business  as  immortal  sons  of  God  is 
first  of  all  to  look  out  for  our  precious  selves.  Let 
us  all  see  to  it  that  no  annoying  social  or  economic 
questions  shall  disturb  our  minds.  Let  us  not  be 
distracted  from  our  culture  and  amusements  by 
being  forced  to  waste  time  in  settling  the  prosaic 
bread  and  butter  problems  of  the  '  lower  classes.' 
Let  us  wash  our  hands  of  all  responsibility.  Why 
should  we  hold  ourselves  debtors  either  to  the 
Greeks  or  to  the  barbarians  ? 

"  Oh,  we  are  not  hard-hearted.  We  would  live 
and  let  live.  But  we  can  count  it  no  part  of  our 
business  to  soil  our  fingers  by  lending  a  hand  to 
the  poor  wretch  whose  blind  guide  has  led  him  into 
the  miry  ditch. 

"  Let  him   who   '  despises  his  birthright '  just 


12  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

think  for  an  instant  what  citizenship  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  means.  You  talk  about  finding 
'  more  fun  '  in  Paris  and  Vienna  than  here,  yes,  to 
be  sure ;  for  there  you  have  nothing  to  do  but 
to  skim  the  cream  of  everything  and  dream  away 
your  youth  surrounded  by  all  that  the  thought  of 
the  ages  and  modern  science  can  devise  to  stimu- 
late your  already  fastidious  palate.  But  suppose 
you  were  a  citizen  of  Germany  or  Austria  or  Rus- 
sia, and  must  spend  from  three  to  six  of  the  best 
years  of  your  life  in  active  service  in  the  army; 
suppose  you  were  taxed  to  the  extent  of  over  thirty 
per  cent,  of  your  earnings  like  the  people  of  Italy ; 
suppose  you  knew  that  your  country  was  growing 
poorer  and  taxation  was  on  the  frightful  increase 
as  is  the  case  in  continental  countries ;  suppose  you 
were  taxed  to  support  a  church  in  which  you  did 
not  believe,  and  a  government  which  granted  you 
no  representation  ;  suppose  privilege  and  prejudice 
hung  like  a  millstone  round  every  effort  for  your 
social  advancement ! 

"  Why,"  continued  Mildred  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "  just  imagine  for  an  instant  all  that  is  in- 
volved in  the  difference  in  comfort  and  mode  of  life 
from  the  simple  statement  that  during  the  ten  years 
from  1870  to  1880,  when  the  United  States  de- 
creased its  aggregate  taxation  nine  per  cent.,  Ger- 
many increased  hers  over  fifty  per  cent.  Imagine, 
if  you  can,  what  it  means  to  the  lives  of  millions 
of  human  beings  when  I  say  that  during  a  period 
when  the  wealth  of  Europe  decreased  per  caput 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  13 

three  per  cent,  that  of  our  country  increased  nearly 
forty  per  cent. 

"  It  is  one  thing,  I  have  found,  to  travel  in  Eu- 
rope untaxed,  unmolested,  and  unaffected  by  that 
gloomy  war  cloud  which  continually  hovers  over 
every  nation ;  where,  even  in  times  of  peace,  one 
man  out  of  twenty-two  is  withdrawn  from  produc- 
tive industries  to  train  himself  to  destroy  his  fel- 
low-beings. It  is  quite  another  thing  to  be  an  ir- 
responsible traveler,  free  to  come  and  go  and  say 
what  he  pleases. 

"  Let  those  who  count  their  American  citizen- 
ship of  such  slight  worth  think  what  a  delightful 
existence  theirs  would  be  if  they  were  so  favored 
as  to  be  one  of  the  subjects  of  the  Russian  Tsar ! 
Think  of  the  bliss  of  living  in  a  land  where  one 
is  never  disturbed  by  the  encroachments  of  for- 
eigners, or  expected  to  attend  caucuses  and  polls  ; 
where,  in  fact,  the  less  he  knows  about  the  govern- 
ment the  better  for  him  and  his !  Fancy  the  pleas- 
ure in  reading  newspapers  where  the  news  of  the 
day  is  under  such  careful  surveillance,  through  the 
kindness  of  the  censorship,  that  one  is  never  dis- 
turbed by  troublesome  political  matters,  and  has 
always  the  calm  consciousness  that  everything  is 
going  well,  although  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  hun- 
dred millions  over  whom  the  Russian  flag  waves 
cannot  write  their  names ;  where  a  man  may  not  go 
from  one  town  to  another  without  a  passport ; 
where  for  joining  a  club  that  advocates  a  constitu- 
tional monarchy,  as  here  you  might  join  a  club  that 


14  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

advocates  Nationalism,  you  may  be  subject  without 
a  moment's  warning  to  arrest  and  solitary  confine- 
ment for  a  year  or  two  without  a  trial !  You  have 
read  Kennan  and  Stepniak.  You  know  these  are 
hard  facts. 

"  So  when  I  see  men  who  have  been  ground  be- 
tween the  millstones  of  caste,  priestcraft,  and  gov- 
ernmental oppression  come  here  and  turn  against 
all  government,  I  have  less  contempt  and  more  pa- 
tience for  them  than  for  the  young  men  of  our  land, 
who  owe  almost  every  blessing  that  they  enjoy  to 
this  government,  and  who  from  mere  indolence  and 
apathy  choose  to  allow  the  demagogue  and  igno- 
rant alien  to  shape  its  destiny. 

"  You  complain  that  we  have  a  '  stratified  so- 
ciety.' Are  you  not  doing  your  best  to  make  it  a 
stratified  society  and  create  a  caste  system  when 
you  advocate  a  property  qualification  for  the  bal- 
lot, and  would  deny  all  but  the  barest  rudiments  of 
education  to  the  poor  boy  ?  One  would  think  that 
you  had  been  brought  up  in  a  monarchy  and  did 
not  realize  that  from  the  people  we  must  choose 
our  legislators  as  well  as  our  voters,  and  that  a 
system  which  can  be  tolerated  in  a  country  where 
rulers  are  hereditary  is  most  perilous  for  a  govern- 
ment that  is  of  '  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people.' 

"  You  say  '  there  are  no  great  men  now,'  '  no 
great  issues.'  True,  the  war  is  over,  and  Grant  and 
Lincoln  are  dead,  but 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  15 

'Life  may  be  given  in  many  ways, 
And  loyalty  to  truth  be  sealed 
As  bravely  in  the  closet  as  in  the  field, 
So  bountiful  is  fate.' 

"I  do  not  doubt  if  our  flag  were  openly  dis- 
honored you,  too,  would  spring  to  arms  and  give 
your  life-blood  as  heroically  as  those  who  fell  at 
Manassas  or  in  the  Wilderness. 

"  But  how  many  young  men  have  that  kind  of 
heroism  that  impels  them  to  devote  their  culture 
and  ability  to  unostentatious,  unceasing  service  to 
the  state,  though  it  bring  no  glory  or  reward  in 
fame  or  office  ?  No,  the  cowards  are  not  so  often 
to  be  found  on  the  battlefield  as  at  the  committee 
meeting  and  the  caucus. 

"  True,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  sublime  in 
being  a  faithful  health  commissioner,  an  Anthony 
Comstock,  a  General  Armstrong,  or  a  Felix  Adler ; 
nothing  glorious  in  busying  one's  self  with  such 
prosy  things  as  labor  statistics  and  tenement 
houses,  with  prison  reform  and  sewage  and  pri- 
mary schools  and  ward  politics.  'T  is  a  thankless 
task,  and  the  large  per  cent,  of  our  Boston  legal 
voters  who  did  not  vote  yesterday  doubtless  think, 
if  they  think  at  all,  that  even  the  casting  of  a 
ballot  once  or  twice  a  year  is  too  great  a  sacrifice 
of  their  valuable  time,  and  more  than  ought  to 
be  expected  of  men  whose  private  and  social  in- 
terests are  of  far  more  importance  than  the  welfare 
of  the  body  politic. 

"  And  as  for  caucuses,  how  preposterous  to  expect 


16  MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

a  man  who  has  such  important  matters  as  Art 
Club  receptions,  Psychical  Research  meetings,  and 
Longwood  toboggan  parties  to  attend,  to  spend  one 
or  two  evenings  a  year  in  the  company  of  grocers 
and  saloon-keepers,  all  for  the  sake  of  defeating 
some  lamplighter  or  pawnbroker  who  wants  a  nom- 
ination for  the  city  council !  What  difference  does 
it  make  who  is  on  the  council,  provided  taxes  are 
not  raised  ? 

"  Yes,"  continued  Mildred,  and  a  shade  of  mel- 
ancholy replaced  the  quiet  scorn  in  her  tone,  "  the 
last  thing  that  you  or  they  ever  dream  of  is  that 
you  have  a  debt  to  pay  and  are  basely  repudiating 
it." 

The  voice,  whose  tremor  at  last  betrayed  the  in- 
tensity of  the  feeling  that  had  hitherto  been  care- 
fully guarded,  ceased,  and  suddenly  starting  with 
a  self-conscious  look,  and  coloring  deeply,  Mildred 
glided  softly  from  the  room.  Aunt  Madison  fol- 
lowed her. 

The  fire  had  burned  low  and  the  light  was  dim. 
The  young  men  had  forgotten  me  in  the  sofa 
corner. 

There  was  not  a  word  said  for  a  minute  or  two 
as  they  sat  looking  into  the  bed  of  coals  and  lis- 
tening to  the  wind  shuddering  through  the  bare 
branches  of  the  elms  outside.  Mr.  Mather  sat 
leaning  forward  with  his  elbows  on  his  knees  and 
his  head  on  his  hands ;  I  could  not  see  his  face. 
Presently  he  looked  up  and  made  a  motion  as  if  to 
speak,  but  apparently  he  changed  his  mind,  for  he 


MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  17 

said  nothing.  At  last  Mr.  Gordon's  voice  broke 
the  silence. 

"  I  say,  Madison,"  he  asked,  with  a  studiously 
polite  manner,  "who  is  this  charming  Miss  Brew- 
ster  who  has  favored  us  with  the  benefit  of  her 
views  ?  " 

"  She  is  a  sort  of  second  cousin  of  my  mother," 
Will  replied.  "  She  has  just  returned  from  abroad, 
and  I  have  n't  seen  much  of  her  yet." 

"  Well,"  rejoined  the  other,  "  with  your  permis- 
sion, I  will  venture  to  say  that  with  all  due  respect 
to  your  mother's  second  or  third  cousin,  I  would 
as  lief  hear  it  thunder  as  to  hear  her  talk.  Why 
can't  a  pretty  woman  let  well  enough  alone  and  not 
go  into  hysterics  over  what  she  does  n't  know  any- 
thing about?  You  would  think,  to  hear  her  go 
on,  that  the  country  was  going  to  the  devil,  and 
that  we  were  the  cause  of  it." 

"I  wonder  if  all  those  facts  about  Russia  and 
the  thirty  per  cent,  taxation  in  Italy  are  really 
true,"  interposed  Mr.  Conro,  meditatively.  "  She 
reeled  off  all  those  statistics  like  a  schoohna'am 
saying  dates." 

"  They  are  true  if  she  says  so,  you  can  bet  your 
life  on  that,"  answered  Will,  thoroughly  nettled. 
"  Being  out  at  Cambridge  most  of  the  time,  I 
have  n't  seen  much  of  her,  and  I  never  heard  her 
say  so  much  on  any  subject  before  to-night.  I 
was  about  as  much  surprised  as  you  were  at  her 
coming  out  in  that  way ;  but  if  you  and  Gordon 
think  she  is  the  kind  of  girl  to  go  into  hysterics 


18  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

over  nothing,  you  are  mightily  mistaken.  Most 
people  talk  for  the  sake  of  talking,  but  I  've  seen 
enough  of  her  to  know  that  when  she  says  a  thing 
it  stands  for  something.  What  you  said  hurt  her 
in  a  way  a  fellow  like  you  can't  understand.  You  've 
no  interest  in  a  girl  who  has  any  notions  beyond 
flattering  you  into  thinking  you  are  the  most  stun- 
ning fellow  going." 

"  Beg  pardon,"  drawled  Gordon,  "  but  "  — 
"  Hold  on  there,"  interposed  Mr.  Mather,  grimly ; 
"  you  've  said  enough.     What  she  said  was  solid 
gospel,  and  you  know  it  as  well  as  I  do." 


CHAPTER  H. 

The  books  of  Scripture  only  suffer  from  being  subjected  to  re- 
quirements which  we  have  ceased  to  apply  to  the  books  of  com- 
mon literature.  —  DEAN  STANLEY,  History  of  the  Jewish  Church. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  shows  how  men  tried  to  lodge  in- 
fallibility in  the  Bible.  .  .  .  The  great  point  of  our  present  be- 
lief is  that  there  is  no  such  infallible  record  anywhere  in  church 
or  council  or  book.  —  PHILLIPS  BROOKS,  Harvard  Divinity  Ad- 
dress, 1884. 

BOSTON,  Jan.  6.    25  Louisburg  Square. 

JESSIE  DEAR,  —  I  have  been  sitting  for  the  last 
half  hour  in  the  broad,  cushioned  window-seat  of 
my  cosy  attic  room,  looking  far  out  over  the  mass 
of  chimney-tops  to  the  towers  and  spires  beyond 
the  hill  and  the  Public  Garden. 

I  love  to  sit  here  quietly  on  Sunday  afternoons, 
and  when  the  sunset  comes  I  throw  aside  my  books 
and  watch  the  shifting,  brilliant  colors  turning  the 
blue  Charles  into  a  sheet  of  glimmering  gold  and 
dyeing  with  rosy  hues  the  snowy  slopes  of  Corey 
Hill  beyond. 

Have  you  been  away  so  long  as  to  have  forgot- 
ten these  dear  old  sights  ?  And  do  you  recall  that 
on  this  western  slope  of  Beacon  Hill  from  which 
I  write  to  you  lived  the  hermit  Blackstone  of 
Shawmut,  before  Winthrop  or  any  Puritan  had 
thought  of  settling  Boston  town  ? 

I  like  old  places.     I  like  to  be  on  the  oldest  spot 


20  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

in  this  old,  historic  town,  as  you  may  easily  im- 
agine, remembering  all  my  antiquarian  enthusiasm 
when  we  were  at  school.  Well,  I  have  not  out- 
grown it  in  the  least,  in  spite  of  all  my  modern 
radicalism  about  many  things. 

I  wonder,  dear,  what  all  these  ten  years  have 
brought  to  you.  I  have  been  sitting  and  think- 
ing, as  the  sunset  glow  has  faded  in  the  western 
sky,  all  its  glory  turning  so  soon  to  dull,  cold  gray, 
how  in  these  few  minutes  the  past  years  seem 
typified.  What  glorious  visions,  what  radiant 
achievements  illumined  the  heavens  when  we 
looked  at  them  with  the  eyes  of  eighteen  !  What 
would  we  not,  what  could  we  not,  dream  of  doing 
then  ?  I  remember  how  you  vowed  that  I  was  a 
genius,  and  were  sure  that  ten  years  would  not  pass 
before  I  should  win  renown.  And  now,  to-night, 
on  my  twenty-eighth  birthday,  I  sit  here  as  dull 
and  prosy  and  commonplace  a  spinster  as  one  can 
well  find  in  this  city  of  spinsters. 

After  one  is  twenty-five  and  the  birthdays  begin 
to  be  a  little  unwelcome,  I  suppose  one  is  apt  to  be 
made  a  little  morbid  by  them,  though  I  solace  my- 
self by  thinking  that  since  college  girls  in  these 
days  rarely  finish  their  studies  before  twenty-two, 
twenty-eight  does  not  seem  so  ancient  as  it  was 
once  thought  to  be. 

How  strange  that  we  should  have  known  so 
little  of  each  other,  we  who  vowed  that  "ocean- 
sundered  continents  "  should  never  make  our  girl- 
hood's love  less  warm  !  But  after  your  change  of 


MEMOIRS  OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  21 

name  and  transfer  to  the  China  Mission,  while  I 
was  at  Smith  College,  I  lost  sight  of  you,  and,  miss- 
ing your  letters,  knew  not  where  to  write.  So  you 
will  understand  my  long  silence  and  know  that  the 
Mildred  of  ten  years  ago  is  the  same  Mildred  to- 
day, only  no  longer  a  girl,  but  a  woman. 

A  woman,  with  many  ambitions  unsatisfied,  with 
many  heroes  dethroned,  but  with  the  same  loves 
and  hopes  and  fears,  and  with  the  same  ideals,  al- 
though their  attainment  seems  farther  off  with  the 
growing  years. 

I  have  slowly  come  to  recognize  and  be  recon- 
ciled to  my  mediocrity  ;  to  know  that  I  have  not  had 
a  thought  but  has  been  common  to  humanity  ;  that 
I  am  no  whit  wiser  or  better  than  all  my  fellows  ; 
and  that  what  you  in  girlish  enthusiasm  flattered 
me  into  believing  was  creative  power  was  simply  a 
capacity  to  appreciate  and  be  moved  by  what  was 
great. 

I  have  longed  for  power,  but,  believe  me,  not  for 
name  or  fame.  Simply  to  have  had  the  conscious- 
ness in  myself  that  the  world  was  better  and  wiser 
for  my  having  lived  would  have  made  all  drudgery 
and  toil  a  joy  and  privilege.  But  the  blessedness 
of  giving  and  doing  in  a  large  measure  has  not 
been  granted  to  me.  Not  that  I  blame  fate  or 
circumstance  or  environment.  I  have  had  health 
and  freedom  and  friends ;  no  hindrances  and  no 
great  sorrows  since  mother  left  me  alone  five  years 
ago. 

The  failure  lies  with  myself  alone.     Sometimes 


22  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

there  has  been  an  unutterable  loneliness  and  a 
longing  for  something,  I  know  not  what ;  but  I 
suppose  it  must  be  for  the  love  which  has  not  yet 
come  to  me,  and  which  now  may  never  come. 

But  I  do  not  let  that  burden  me  overmuch.  I 
have  my  daily  task.  I  love  my  work ;  and  here, 
among  my  books,  I  thankfully  count  myself  rich 
indeed  in  the  society  of  all  the  great  and  wise  and 
good  of  whose  treasures  I  am  the  happy  heir.  I 
have  traveled,  too,  and  seen  the  Old  World  cities 
and  the  castles,  palaces,  and  ruins  of  which  we  used 
to  dream.  It  was  not  exactly  the  blissful  experi- 
ence I  had  fancied,  for  I  was  doomed  to  be  the 
companion  of  a  stupid  old  dowager  whose  money 
bought  my  time  and  service,  and  to  whom  I  was 
useful  as  an  interpreter  of  the  arts  and  languages 
with  which  she  was  unfamiliar. 

I  saw  a  great  deal  and  learned  some  things.  It 
helped  me  a  little  towards  reaching  that  goal  of 
culture  at  which  I  aim,  whence  I  can  truly  say 
that  "  I  count  nothing  human  foreign  to  me."  It 
helped  to  free  me  somewhat  from  the  narrowness 
of  my  age  and  environment.  I  have  become  a 
little  more  of  a  Greek,  a  little  less  of  a  rugged 
Goth.  Not  that  mere  travel  did  this  ;  if  my  eyes 
had  not  begun  to  be  opened  before,  I  should  have 
seen  nothing.  I  have  verified  nothing  more 
thoroughly  than  Emerson's  saying,  "  Though  we 
travel  the  world  over  to  find  the  beautiful  we  must 
carry  it  with  us  or  we  find  it  not." 

I  miss  the  picturesqueness  and  the  charm  of  the 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  23 

Old  World  life.  I  am  surprised  to  find  how  shocked 
and  annoyed  I  am  at  the  crudities  and  Philistinism 
of  which  I  was  once  oblivious.  But,  after  all,  I  am 
glad  to  be  back ;  glad  to  be  in  the  current  of  real 
life  again,  and  to  take  my  share  in  it.  It  is  worth 
something  to  live  in  a  land  where  one  does  not 
have  to  despise  the  men  or  pity  the  women ;  where 
a  man  is  not  ashamed  to  be  seen  carrying  his  own 
baby  ;  where  a  girl  can  walk  the  streets  alone  and 
unmolested,  and  where  a  lady  can  earn  her  daily 
bread  and  be  thought  a  lady  still. 

I  have  a  quiet  home  with  my  mother's  cousin  — 
"  auntie,"  I  call  her ;  and  I  have  settled  down  to 
steady  work  with  a  concert  or  play  or  toboggan 
party  to  give  it  a  little  zest  now  and  then.  My 
classes  take  me  to  Dorchester  and  Cambridge  and 
Longwood.  Once  a  week  I  meet  a  score  or  so  of 
our  Boston  society  women  in  a  Commonwealth 
Avenue  drawing-room,  who  manage,  among  their 
thousand  and  one  lectures,  lessons,  and  engage- 
ments of  every  sort,  to  squeeze  in  an  hour  to  hear 
me  discourse  on  the  topics  of  the  day,  when  I  try 
to  teach  them  about  some  phases  of  our  nineteenth 
century  life  of  which  they,  like  most  women,  know 
but  little.  As  these  ladies  include  all  shades  of 
religious  and  political  belief  and  non-belief,  I  have 
to  choose  my  words,  as  you  may  imagine. 

I  write  a  little  occasionally  for  the  "  Transcript  " 
or  "  Woman's  Journal,"  or  some  other  equally  inof- 
fensive and  unremunerative  sheet.  I  visit  my  North 
Enders,  and  think  I  am  doing  God  more  service 


24  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

in  trying  to  keep  some  of  my  small  Hibernians 
from  being  sent  to  the  Reform  School  than  I  ever 
used  to  accomplish  in  teaching  Jewish  history  at 
the  Mission. 

I  have  given  up  Sunday-school  work.  Not  that 
I  disbelieve  in  it,  but  I  find  myself  less  and  less 
able  to  adapt  myself  to  the  requirements  of  super- 
intendents and  "  lesson  helps,"  and  my  conscience 
now  forbids  me  to  teach  what  I  could  once  repeat 
so  glibly  and  confidently. 

Yes,  let  me  say  it  frankly,  —  though  I  fear  it 
will  greatly  shock  you,  you  dear,  pious  soul,  —  I 
have  gone  over  to  the  "New  Theology,"  and  I 
have  gone  so  far  and  so  irrevocably  that  but  few 
of  those  churches  where  my  childhood's  faith  is 
still  believed  dare  open  their  doors  to  me. 

I  wonder  if  you  can  conceive  how  painful  it 
has  been  to  me  to  find  the  friends  for  whom  I  care 
most  condemning  as  irreligious  every  thoughtful 
man  or  woman  who  ventures  to  treat  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  in  a  reasonable  way. 

My  last  Sunday-school  class  was  in  the  home 
school,  where  I  had  bright  girls  of  sixteen.  I  did 
my  best  to  make  the  Bible  a  living  book  to  them, 
to  make  them  study  the  history  of  the  Jews  in 
the  same  natural  and  enthusiastic  way  that  they 
studied  their  Greek  history  at  school,  but  I  soon 
found  that  they  considered  this  sacrilegious.  They 
looked  at  me  with  cold,  critical  glances  when  I 
tried  to  spiritualize  their  "  Gates  Ajar "  idea  of 
heaven.  I  found  that  they  had  gone  home  and 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  25 

told  their  mothers  that  I  did  not  believe  in  God  or 
heaven  or  hell,  and,  to  my  bitter  mortification  and 
dismay,  they  left  me  one  by  one  until  I  was  alone. 

Doubtless  I  had  little  wisdom.  I  was  trying  to 
teach  them  in  a  few  months  what  it  had  taken  me 
years  of  growth  to  reach.  In  trying  to  disabuse 
them  of  their  anthropomorphic  notions  of  God,  I 
had  succeeded  in  making  Him  only  a  nonentity  to 
them.  In  taking  away  a  literal  Garden  of  Eden 
and  the  serpent,  and  substituting  a  theory  of  evolu- 
tion, I  had,  in  their  imaginations,  abolished  all  in- 
spiration and  moral  responsibility.  Not  that  they 
were  girls  who  troubled  themselves  very  much 
about  such  things  ;  they  could  dance  and  flirt  as 
well  as  the  best ;  but  as  for  really  daring  to  face 
the  evidence  on  such  matters,  that  was  wicked  and 
dangerous,  in  their  opinion. 

Nor  was  this  all.  One  good  old  clergyman,  to 
whose  church  I  brought  a  letter  of  recommenda- 
tion, and  who  after  my  candid  talk  felt  obliged  to 
deny  me  a  welcome,  said,  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
that  he  hoped  my  mother's  prayers  would  save  me. 

It  made  me  feel  forlorn  and  homesick  for  a 
while.  I  like  the  strength,  sincerity,  and  earnest- 
ness which  the  old  faith  gave,  and  I  cannot  lightly 
break  away  from  it.  I  hate  the  lukewarmness  and 
apathy  of  many  of  the  more  radical  faith,  and  I 
cannot  make  up  my  mind  to  cast  my  lot  with  them. 
Besides,  I  have  a  half  fear  that,  after  all,  they 
have  not  begun,  even  intellectually,  to  probe  to  the 
bottom  these  great  historic  beliefs  on  which  the 


26  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

church  has  stood  for  ages.  I  fear  that  they  treat 
them  too  cavalierly,  too  superficially.  I  find  about 
as  much  intolerance  among  the  so-called  liberals 
as  among  the  conservatives. 

To  me  sin  is  not  an  ailment  to  be  cured  with 
sugared  plums.  The  Puritanism  in  me  rebels  at 
the  weakness  and  flabbiness  of  many  who  have  left 
the  old  faith  for  a  broader  one.  However  much  my 
mind  is  forced  to  accept  their  doctrine,  my  sympa- 
thies abide  with  the  men  of  moral  earnestness  who 
still  think  it  their  business  to  be  "  saving  souls." 

To  me  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  something 
more  than  a  mathematical  absurdity,  as  the  men  of 
one  party  say ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  something 
more  than  an  inscrutable  mystery  to  be  accepted 
without  deep  philosophic  study,  as  the  men  of  the 
other  party  hold. 

I  pity  and  long  to  help  the  poor  souls  groping 
for  some  solution  of  the  religious  problems  peculiar 
to  our  day.  There  are  thousands  of  them  —  more 
than  any  one  knows  —  inside  the  fold  of  the  church 
itself,  fed,  but  not  nourished,  and  famishing  for 
the  kind  of  food  which  their  good  pastors  know 
not  how  to  give. 

How  many  times  I  have  gone  to  church  bewil- 
dered, utterly  wretched,  my  soul  crying  out  for  the 
living  God,  and  listened  to  a  cheap,  well-meant  dis- 
course against  "  Ingersoll,  Emerson,  and  all  other 
unbelievers  in  the  inspired  Word  of  God,"  with  an 
earnest  exhortation  to  refrain  at  our  peril  from 
"  searching  into  what  are  the  hidden  mysteries." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  27 

I  understood  the  preacher's  standpoint,  poor 
soul !  I  respected  him  and  his  effort,  but  oh,  how 
helpless  he  was  to  do  anything  for  me  who  could 
detect  the  sophistry  and  lack  of  discrimination  in 
all  this  talk ! 

Oh,  if  I  could  help  those  who  have  been  driven  to 
question  the  whole  of  truth,  when  they  thus  find  out 
a  part  of  it  to  have  been  crude  or  false !  And  I 
pity  almost  as  much  the  many  timid  ones  who,  like 
myself,  are  longing  to  stay  in  the  mother  church, 
to  that  end  being  sorely  tempted  to  quibble  with 
creeds,  but  who  find  no  place  either  in  or  out  of 
the  church  which  would  exactly  express  their  true 
religious  attitude. 

How  strange  all  this  must  seem  to  you,  who  used 
to  feel  that  heaven  and  earth  might  fall,  but  that  I 
should  never  give  up  my  faith. 

No,  please  God,  I  shall  never  give  up  faith,  nor 
hold  less  faithfully  to  the  eternal  verities  which 
alone  make  life  worth  living.  Never  have  I  felt 
more  deeply  than  to-day  the  truth  of  the  old  words 
of  the  catechism,  "  Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify 
God  and  enjoy  him  forever."  But  I  do  not  hold 
that  keeping  the  faith  is  an  adherence  to  any  creed 
or  an  absolute  acceptance  of  any  book,  even  if  it 
be  the  Book  of  books. 

I  have  come  to  feel  that  the  teaching  of  my 
childhood  which  made  historic  facts,  or  what  were 
assumed  to  be  historic  facts,  of  equal  importance 
with  the  eternal  and  immutable  laws  of  moral  and 
spiritual  growth,  —  I  have  come,  I  say,  to  feel  that 
his  was  false.  Ah  me,  the  pity  of  it ! 


28  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

I  write  you  all  this  because  I  want  you  to 
know  the  strongest  reason  that  has  prevented  me 
from  following  in  your  footsteps  and,  as  I  once 
dreamed  of  doing,  giving  myself  up  either  at  home 
or  abroad  to  the  grand  missionary  work  which 
still  seems  to  me  the  most  satisfying  kind  of  work 
in  the  world.  No,  I  cannot  be  a  missionary ;  I 
think  I  shall  never  dare  to  teach  any  one  ;  I  don't 
know  how  ;  but,  thank  God,  I  have  come  to  see  a 
little  more  clearly  some  truths  to  which  I  think 
it  is  possible  for  the  human  mind  to  attain.  The 
vision  thus  gained,  though  still  at  times  a  fleeting 
one,  has,  I  firmly  believe,  placed  me  forever  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  nightmare  of  doubts  and  mortal 
terrors  which  first  assailed  me  after  I  dared  trust 
myself  to  think  and  question. 

No  one,  not  bred  in  a  New  England  home  with 
all  the  Puritan  traditions  imbibed  with  every 
breath,  can  realize  the  fever  and  despair  that  I  have 
felt  more  than  once  after  I  dared  to  think  and  face 
the  result  of  my  thought.  But  that  torture  can 
never  come  again.  Not  that  I  have  relapsed  into 
indifference  or  have  heeded  the  pleadings  of  my 
devout  friends  to  "  only  believe,"  that  so  I  might 
dread  my  doubts  as  impious  and  accept  without 
question  the  creed  of  my  fathers.  No !  Kant, 
Hegel,  and  Fichte,  Carlyle  and  Emerson,  Robert- 
son, Stanley,  Phillips  Brooks,  and,  more  than  all, 
the  unprejudiced  study  of  the  Bible  itself,  have 
kept  me  from  that. 

I  no  longer  tremble  at  the  question  whether  the 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  29 

record  of  the  miracles  be  fact  or  no  ;  it  touches  not 
my  spiritual  life.  The  baby  born  next  door  yester- 
day is  a  greater  miracle  to  me  than  Lazarus  raised 
from  the  dead ;  the  morning's  breakfast  turned  into 
vital  force  that  guides  this  hand  as  marvelous  as 
water  changed  to  wine.  Whether  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  be  literal  fact  or  not,  it  in  no  wise  affects 
my  immortality.  My  faith  rests  on  something  surer 
than  the  accuracy  of  any  historic  fact. 

Are  you  shocked  ?  Yes,  doubtless,  for  so  should 
I  have  been  once.  I  do  not  expect  you  to  under- 
stand me  yet,  unless  you  too  have  been  climbing  up 
to  the  light  by  the  same  path  in  which  I  have  been 
led.  You  will  think  that  I  have  been  venturing  on 
dangerous  ground,  but  I  could  not  write  to  you 
without  granting  your  request  to  tell  you  how  it 
was  with  me  in  my  inmost  self. 

You  ask  whether  I  am  married  or  am  going  to 
be.  The  first  question  I  have  answered  ;  as  to  the 
second,  the  most  that  I  can  say  is  that  when  a 
woman  has  lived  a  dozen  years  beyond  sweet  six- 
teen and  has  never  been  very  deeply  in  love,  it 
argues  either  that  she  has  lived  like  a  nun,  or 
something  rather  uncomplimentary  to  her  heart, 
and  that  there  is  precious  little  prospect  of  her 
ever  finding  the  right  one  after  that. 

They  say  no  woman  ever  fails  of  some  time  hav- 
ing at  least  one  suitor.  Well,  I  have  had  my  one. 
A  burly,  broad-chested  business  man  he  was,  with 
very  decided  ideas  about  protection  and  mining 
stock,  with  a  good  deal  of  amused  wonder  at  my 


30  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

independence  of  thought  and  action,  and  a  chival- 
rous old-fashioned  pity  for  gentlewomen  who  had 
to  earn  their  living.  He  felt  pretty  desperately 
when  I  said  "  no,"  and  I  had  to  say  it  three  or  four 
times  before  he  could  believe  it,  for  he  had  been  so 
sure  that  a  poor  young  creature  like  me  must  long 
for  his  strong  arm  and  good  bank  account  to  shield 
her  from  the  "  world's  cold  blasts."  I  did  like 
him,  I  confess,  but  not  enough;  not  as  I  must 
love  the  one  to  whom  I  would  gladly,  heartily, 
pledge  my  whole  self  for  life. 

So,  one  bright  spring  day  he  sailed  away  for 
South  America  and  never  returned.  He  married 
a  Spanish  wife,  I  hear,  who  will  inherit  his  millions, 
for  he  made  shrewd  investments  and  became  enor- 
mously wealthy.  The  "  Herald  "  had  a  dispatch 
yesterday  morning  announcing  his  death  from  sun- 
stroke. It  gave  me  a  shock.  Yes,  he  was  a  good 
man,  and  I  did  like  him ;  but  I  am  glad  I  am  not 
his  widow  in  spite  of  his  millions. 

We  were  talking  at  lunch  to-day  about  wealth, 
and  when  I  answered  the  question  "  How  much 
money  would  you  wish  for  if  you  could  have  your 
wish  ?  "  by  saying  "  Twenty-five  millions,"  every 
one  looked  aghast. 

"  What,  yew,  Mildred,  of  all  persons !  Why, 
you  never  cared  for  diamonds  or  horses  or  yachts 
or  anything  grand,"  exclaimed  one. 

"  What  in  the  world  would  you  do  with  it  ? " 
asked  another.  "  You  could  n't  spend  half  a  mil- 
lion with  your  modest  tastes,  and  the  rest  would  be 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  31 

simply  a  dead  weight.  You  would  be  bored  to 
death  with  lawyers  and  beggars,  and  have  brain 
fever  in  six  weeks." 

"  Oh  no,"  interposed  a  third  ;  "  she  would  buy 
shoes  for  all  the  barefoot  children,  and  build  col- 
leges from  Alaska  to  Key  West." 

"  If  you  were  like  most  people  you  would  find  it 
the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  spend  your 
money  wisely,"  said  auntie,  sagely. 

So  I  kept  my  counsel  and  said  nothing.  I  can't 
help  wishing,  though,  to  know  what  will  become  of 
these  millions  which  I  might  have  had  by  saying 
that  one  little  word  five  years  ago.  It  seems  to  me 
I  should  not  be  utterly  at  a  loss  to  find  some  wise 
uses  for  them,  and  it  would  not  be  by  building  col- 
leges which  are  not  needed,  or  by  encouraging  pau- 
perism. .  .  . 


CHAPTER  III. 

(Extract  from  the  "  Boston  Herald.") 

MILDRED'S  MILLIONS.  —  BOSTON'S  BEAUTIFUL  BELLE 
FALLS  HEIRESS  TO  A  FORTUNE  ESTIMATED  AT 
THIRTY  MILLIONS  !  MISS  MILDRED  BREWSTER 
THE  SOLE  HEIRESS. 

WHEN  the  rumor  in  yesterday's  South  American 
dispatches  hinted  that  the  colossal  fortune  amassed 
by  the  late  Mr.  William  Dunreath  was,  according 
to  his  will,  to  be  transferred  in  toto  to  a  Boston 
lady,  when  moreover,  on  investigation,  the  name 
of  the  aforesaid  lady  was  disclosed  by  her  lawyer, 
an  enterprising  representative  of  the  "  Herald " 
was  not  long  in  finding  his  way  to  the  residence  of 
this  favored  daughter  of  fortune. 

Two  other  journalists,  with  pencil  and  pad  in 
readiness,  arrived  almost  simultaneously  and  were 
shown  into  the  reception  room. 

Miss  Brewster  was  out. 

Would  her  ladyship  soon  return  ? 

That  was  doubtful. 

A  skillful  use  of  some  of  Uncle  Sam's  coin,  how- 
ever, secured  an  "  aside  "  in  the  library  with  the 
sable  domestic  whose  acquaintance  with  desirable 
facts  proved  a  godsend. 

"  Was  Miss  Brewster  young  ?  " 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  33 

Certainly.  She  had  just  celebrated  her  twenty- 
fourth  birthday,  or,  to  quote  our  informant  more 
literally,  "  Yes,  sah,  she  is  done  gone  twenty-fo' 
shuah,  fo'  I  made  her  buffday  cake." 

"  Was  Miss  Brewster  handsome  ?  " 

In  response  to  this  momentous  question  this  jewel 
of  a  Chloe  produced  from  a  corner  of  the  library 
a  photograph  album  containing  two  cabinet  pho- 
tographs, taken  in  Boston  and  Paris  respectively, 
and  representing  one  of  the  most  attractive  types 
of  petite  female  beauty.  One  picture  was  taken  in 
a  jaunty  riding  habit,  displaying  to  good  advantage 
a  slender,  trim  figure,  with  a  graceful  poise  to  a 
very  pretty  head,  and  a  pair  of  fascinating  dark 
eyes  looking  frankly  at  you  from  under  the  hat- 
brim.  The  other  was  in  a  white  evening  dress 
modestly  covering  the  sloping  shoulders,  the  hair 
worn  Pompadour,  and  no  ornaments  save  flowers. 
There  was  a  delicacy  and  refinement  indicated  in 
the  small  ear  and  sensitive  mouth,  which  betokened 
generations  of  the  best  blood  and  culture.  It  was 
gratifying  to  perceive  that  the  enviable  possessor 
of  one  of  the  largest  private  fortunes  in  New  Eng- 
land was  evidently  richly  endowed  by  nature  with 
every  charm  which  could  lend  grace  to  the  brilliant 
position  in  society  that  she  without  doubt  is  des- 
tined to  fill. 

The  "  Herald  "  representative  inquired  further  as 
to  the  past  history  of  Miss  Brewster,  and  learned 
that  she  was  the  only  child  of  a  physician,  was  born 
in  Cambridge,  has  spent  some  years  in  foreign 


34  MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 

travel  and  study  under  the  chaperonage  of  a  distin- 
guished leader  of  society,  was  presented  at  the  Court 
of  St.  James,  and  received  marked  attention  from 
some  of  the  scions  of  the  oldest  and  noblest  houses 
of  England. 

She  is  supposed  to  have  had  a  small  independent 
fortune  of  her  own,  but  having  literary  and  philan- 
thropic tastes,  has  quietly  devoted  herself  to  study 
and  works  of  charity,  thus  depriving  society  of  one 
peculiarly  fitted  to  be  one  of  its  brightest  orna- 
ments. 

The  connection  between  the  defunct  millionaire 
and  the  charming  girl  upon  whom  he  has  lavished 
all  his  wealth  seems  hard  to  prove.  From  all  that 
could  be  learned,  however,  it  seems  conclusive  that 
an  engagement  existed  between  them,  and  that  the 
death  of  Mr.  Dunreath  was  a  great  shock  to  the 
fortunate  lady  of  his  choice.  In  the  absence  of  any 
family  or  near  relatives,  Mr.  D.  being  an  only  son 
and  a  bachelor,  she  will  find  no  one  to  dispute 
the  will.  This  latter  point  was  confirmed  by  her 
lawyer,  Mr.  Kilrain,  of  No.  55  Pemberton  Square, 
who,  however,  remained  very  provokingly  non-com- 
mittal on  all  other  points  of  interest,  intimating 
that  he  was  thus  obeying  the  instructions  of  his  fair 
client,  who  modestly  wishes  to  avoid  the  sudden 
notoriety  which  her  fortune  will  necessarily  bring 
upon  her. 

A  call  on  some  of  her  co-workers  in  the  Asso- 
ciated Charities  revealed  the  fact  that  Miss  Brew- 
ster  is  ardently  absorbed  in  her  work,  and  has  been 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  35 

peculiarly  successful  in  winning  the  hearts  of  the 
street  gamins  in  her  district.  She  is  interested  in 
various  charities,  and  it  is  anticipated  that  her  in- 
creased wealth  will  not  lessen  the  time  nor  the 
interest  which  she  has  devoted  to  her  various  bene- 
factions. 

It  was  intimated  from  one  source  that  Miss 
Brewster  holds  very  pronounced  views  upon  wo- 
men's rights,  and  will  probably  use  a  great  part  of 
her  wealth  in  advancing  the  cause  of  female  suf- 
frage, but  this  we  are  loth  to  believe. 

(Extract  from  the  "  Boston  Globe.") 

.  .  .  After  waiting  an  hour  and  calling  at  three 
different  times,  the  representative  of  the  "  Globe  " 
was  finally  so  fortunate  as  to  encounter  the  fair  lady 
in  whom  the  public  is  now  feeling  so  warm  an  in- 
terest. She  had  just  returned  home,  and  was  stand- 
ing in  the  hall  with  her  little  toque  of  wine-colored 
velvet  still  crowning  her  chestnut  tresses,  and  her 
tall,  stately  figure  draped  from  head  to  foot  in  a 
fur-trimmed  cloak  of  the  same  shade. 

She  received  the  "  Globe  "  representative  most 
courteously,  ushering  him  into  a  cosy  little  recep- 
tion room,  and  meanwhile  drawing  off  the  gants 
de  suede  which  encased  her  shapely  hands.  She 
seemed  nervous  and  tired,  but  had  a  brilliant  color 
which  deepened  perceptibly  when  requested  to  grant 
an  interview.  The  involuntary  look  of  surprise 
and  hauteur  which  accompanied  this  only  enhanced 
her  beauty,  but  quickly  recovering  herself  she  re- 


36  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

plied  without  embarrassment  that  there  was  nothing 
whatever  that  she  wished  to  state  to  the  public. 
She  had  not  been  apprised  of  the  nature  of  the  will 
until  within  three  days.  Since  then  she  had  been 
overwhelmed  with  business  arrangements,  and  was 
very  tired  and  wished  to  see  only  her  intimate 
friends. 

One  question,  however,  she  so  far  forgot  herself 
as  to  answer,  namely,  as  to  whether  she  should 
change  her  residence.  She  replied  that  she  pur- 
posed soon  to  leave  town  for  an  indefinite  period. 
A  further  question  designed  to  draw  out  some  in- 
formation regarding  her  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Dunreath,  whom  it  is  certain  she  has  for  a  long 
time  corresponded  with,  met  with  no  reply  beyond 
"  I  will  bid  you  good  evening." 

Miss  Brewster  is  certainly  a  very  prepossessing 
lady.  In  addition  to  her  beauty  her  voice  is  par- 
ticularly well  modulated  and  pleasing.  She  is  de- 
cidedly above  the  medium  height,  and  has  a  queenly 
air  combined  with  a  brisk,  business-like  manner, 
which  gives  evidence  that  she  is  at  once  a  lady  and 
a  shrewd  woman  of  the  world,  —  an  indication  of 
anything  but  the  helpless  state  into  which  most  in- 
experienced women  would  have  been  thrown  at  so 
sudden  and  astounding  a  change  of  fortune. 

In  the  gaslight  and  with  such  a  color  Miss  Brew- 
ster had  the  appearance  of  being  not  over  twenty- 
three  ;  we  learn,  however,  on  unquestioned  author- 
ity from  a  former  schoolmate  of  hers,  that  she  is 
just  twenty-six,  having  had  a  birthday  last  week. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  37 

Miss  Brewster  is  said  to  be  a  very  devout  church- 
woman  of  the  ritualistic  type,  and  usually  attends 
the  Church  of  the  Advent. 

The  Hub  is  certainly  to  be  commiserated  at  the 
prospect  of  so  soon  losing  a  lady  who  would  other- 
wise become  one  of  its  most  admired  belles  as  well 
as  a  leader  of  its  most  cultured  society,  and  we 
trust  that  her  stay  though  indefinite  may  not  be 
prolonged. 

Three  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  let- 
ters received  by  Miss  Brewster  during  the  first 
week  after  the  above  newspaper  extracts  appeared 
will  serve  as  types  of  the  whole. 

LETTER  NO.    I. 

JONESPORT,  PA.,  Jan —  18— 

DEREST  Miss  BREWSTER  HONORED  MISS 

God  has  been  verry  bountiful  too  you  truly  and 
no  doubt  your  kind  heart  is  greatful  for  all  his 
Mercies  and  anxshus  to  do  your  part  in  relieving 
the  wos  of  humanity.  Henceforth  your  couch  is 
down  and  your  pathway  strude  with  roses,  you 
have  more  money  than  you  know  what  too  do  with 
and  will  take  it  kindly  for  me  suggest  a  most  use- 
ful and  feesable  way  to  do  the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number  which  is  the  Christian's  vitle 
breath.  My  dorter  Rose  Ethel  Bangs  is  just 
turned  sixtine  and  is  as  smart  and  handsum  a  girl 
as  ever  trod  shu  lether.  she  is  awful  musicle  and 
is  just  dying  to  get  a  chance  to  go  to  the  Boston 


38  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Conservatory,  sha  plays  the  banjo  best  of  anybody 
in  the  county  and  has  given  solo  peices  at  some  of 
the  best  concerts  she  plays  the  melodeon  at  meeting 
and  the  best  critics  say  her  voice  is  amazing  a  pro- 
fessor from  Philadelfy  said  he  had  heard  a  great 
many  voices  but  he  never  heard  a  voice  that  was  as 
strong  as  her  voice.  A  yere's  residens  in  Boston 
would  complete  her  education  she  has  a  young  gen- 
tleman second  cousin  who  is  anxshus  to  show  her 
about  to  see  the  sites  and  300  dollers  with  what 
her  pa  can  raise  would  just  about  do  the  bizness 
now  dear  miss  when  you  have  it  in  your  pour  to 
bestough  such  a  blessing  how  can  you  refrane.  We 
shall  bless  you  and  my  dorter  will  be  a  credit  to 
you  and  a  jewel  in  the  crown  which  our  Heavenly 
father  will  bestough  on  all  who  remember  the  prov- 
erb it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
Yours  with  love  and  regards 

MRS.  MATTIE  T.  BANGS. 

P.  S.    I  send  Rose  Ethel's  tintype  took  when  she 
was  fourtine  she  wears  her  hair  up  now. 


LETTER   NO.   II. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y., Street. 

DEAR  Miss  BREWSTER: 

Permit  me  at  this  moment  of  your  joy  and  un- 
precedented good  fortune  to  present  to  you  my 
most  heartfelt  congratulations. 

Perhaps  you  may  not  recollect  my  humble  self, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  39 

as  you  always  impressed  me  with  such  a  sense  of 
awe  and  dignity  that  I  dared  not  venture  to  dis- 
close to  you  the  profound  admiration  which  I  have 
always  felt  for  your  exalted  character. 

Barely  have  I  known  such  a  nature  as  yours. 
One  so  endowed  with  all  the  charms  and  graces  of 
a  goddess  and  a  saint  it  has  never  been  my  fortune 
to  meet.  Do  not  think  I  am  nattering  you,  mon 
ange ;  but  ever  since  the  first  moment  when  my 
eyes  fell  on  your  face  suffused  with  dewy  tears,  as 
you  bade  good-by  to  your  native  land,  you  have 
been  the  ideal  of  my  fondest  dreams. 

I  sailed  with  you  on  the  steamer,  like  you  bound 
for  those  shores  of  mystery  and  delight  which  from 
childhood's  hour  had  haunted  my  imagination,  now 
helas  1  never  to  be  revisited,  for  I  —  how  can  I  say 
it  ?  —  have  been  doomed  by  fate  to  lose  all  that  is 
most  dear  to  me. 

I  had  kept  my  diamond  earrings  until  the  last, 
but  yesterday  even  those,  my  last  precious  treas- 
ures, had  to  be  sacrificed.  How  can  I  relate  to  you 
the  story  of  our  disgrace  ! 

A  year  ago  papa  failed,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
leave  our  palatial  home  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  be- 
take ourselves  to  a  small  hotel  on  W.  Ninth  Street. 
I  nearly  cried  my  eyes  out.  I  spent  days  and 
nights  in  weeping  over  our  sad  fortunes,  and  as  one 
by  one  I  was  obliged  to  surrender  the  darling  treas- 
ures of  happier  days  I  felt  that  if  this  were  to  go 
on  I  should  either  become  a  hopeless  wreck  with 
shattered  nerves  and  end  my  days  in  a  lunatic  asy- 


40  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

lum,  or  else  that  rather  than  suffer  the  mental  tor- 
ture which  I  had  endured  I  should  with  my  own 
hand  take  the  life  which  was  a  curse  to  me. 

Everything  has  gone  from  bad  to  worse,  though 
I  have  fought  against  fate  with  all  the  passion  of 
desperation.  Our  friends  have  deserted  us ;  that 
is,  all  the  young  society  which  I  care  about  and 
really  need  to  keep  up  my  spirits  and  make  me 
cheerful.  I  can  find  no  congenial  society  in  the 
class  with  whom  I  am  doomed  to  associate,  and  so 
I  keep  my  room,  and  solace  my  sad  hours  with 
works  of  fiction,  which  for  the  time  being  take  me 
out  of  myself,  and  with  fancy  work,  which  is  the 
one  little  link  that  connects  me  with  my  happy  past. 

But  now  a  crisis  has  come  in  papa's  affairs.  He 
is  offered  a  position  in  Jersey  City,  and  compels  us 
to  go  with  him  to  this  odious  place,  to  live  in  a 
second  or  third  rate  boarding-house,  away  from 
everything  that  makes  life  endurable. 

I  cannot  do  it.  I  should  simply  be  burying  my- 
self alive.  To  one  of  my  sensitive  temperament 
the  shock  would  be  too  great,  and  I  know  that  I 
should  become  but  a  wreck  of  my  former  self. 

I  have  racked  my  brains  and  tossed  on  my  sleep- 
less pillow  many  a  night,  endeavoring  to  solve  the 
problem  that  is  before  me. 

This  morning  a  ray  of  light  dawned  upon  the 
gloom  which  has  enshrouded  me.  I  picked  up  the 
morning  paper  and  read  the  delightful  announce- 
ment of  the  good  fortune  which  has  come  to  you. 
My  heart  throbbed  with  sympathetic  joy,  mon  amie, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  41 

to  think  that  in  this  desolate  world  at  least  one 
whom  I  loved  was  completely  happy. 

The  report  says  that  you  are  soon  to  go  abroad. 
Like  an  inspiration  the  thought  came  to  me,  "  Oh, 
if  only  I  could  go  with  her  as  a  companion  !  "  The 
thought  fairly  suffocated  me.  Once  the  idea  of 
attempting  to  go  as  a  paid  companion,  of  accepting 
money  for  services  rendered,  no  matter  how  valu- 
able they  might  be,  would  have  brought  the  blush 
to  my  cheek.  But  my  pride  has  been  humbled, 
and  though  even  now  I  could  not  do  it  for  every 
one,  for  you  whom  I  adore  it  would  seem  no  sacri- 
fice but  a  privilege. 

I  could  be  of  invaluable  service  to  you  in  shop- 
ping and  in  visiting  galleries.  I  speak  French  per- 
fectly, and  could  play  whist  or  sing  to  you  when 
you  are  tired.  I  know  how  to  arrange  flowers,  to 
design  toilettes,  to  order  dinners,  and  can  read 
aloud  without  fatigue.  I  could  relieve  you  of  all 
care,  and  this  you  will  certainly  require,  as  so  many 
new  cares  have  devolved  upon  you,  and  you  must 
be  distracted  with  all  the  new  things  you  have  to 
order  and  to  attend  to. 

What  steamer  shall  you  take  ?  I  like  the  North 
German  Lloyd  best,  —  don't  you  ? 

I  can  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice.     I  await 
your  answer  in  an  agony  of  suspense. 
Yours  devotedly, 

M.  JEANETTE  MASON. 


42  MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 

LETTER  NO.  HI. 

E.  GAINSBOROUGH,  Vx. 

Miss  BREWSTER: 

DEAR  Miss,  —  No  doubt  you  will  be  very  much 
surprised  to  get  a  letter  from  me  for  you  don't  know 
me  at  all  and  I  don't  know  you  at  all  and  I  persume 
you  are  not  used  to  getting  letters  from  strangers. 
But  you  are  a  rich  kind  lady  and  as  a  last  resorse 
I  turn  to  you  for  my  heart  is  bleeding  and  my 
friends  can't  do  no  more  for  me.  I  am  an  inven- 
tor as  you  will  be  surprised  to  learn.  Ever  since 
I  was  able  to  hold  a  jack  knife  and  whittle  I  have 
been  whittling  out  things  and  making  inventions. 
Some  folks  say  I  am  a  genius  and  if  I  had  my 
rights  I  should  be  rolling  in  welth  and  be  able  to 
keep  a  horse  and  carriage. 

My  inventions  have  been  about  all  sorts  of 
things.  I  almost  got  a  patent  for  a  clothes-wringer 
but  a  mean  sneak  of  a  fellow  stole  it  from  me 
taking  the  bread  from  my  children's  mouths.  My 
wife  took  in  sewing  and  washing  and  the  children 
milked  the  cow  and  kept  the  garden  running  and 
sometimes  I  got  odd  jobs.  But  a  month  ago  Susie 
and  Jimmie  took  sick  with  scarlet  fever  and  wife 
she  was  up  with  them  night  and  day  and  she  took 
sick  too  and  first  Jimmie  died  and  then  Susie,  and 
mother  the  next  day. 

I  did  the  best  I  could  and  the  neighbors  was 
kind  and  came  in  spite  of  its  being  so  catching. 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  43 

But  now  there  all  gone  and  nobody  but  the  baby 
and  me  is  left.  He  had  it  light  and  wan't  down 
but  a  day  or  two.  I  feel  most  crazy  when  I  think 
of  it  all  and  wonder  what  I'm  going  to  do.  The 
neighbors  cooked  up  some  vittles  for  a  few  days 
but  there  poor  too  and  I  can't  count  on  them  for 
doing  much. 

I  've  got  to  do  something  right  off  and  I  an't 
a  cent  of  money  more  than  enough  to  pay  the  post- 
age of  this  letter. 

Last  night  when  Mis  deacon  Allen  went  by 
with  the  newspaper  she  had  got  to  the  P.  O.  she 
stopped  and  read  me  all  about  your  getting  rich  so 
sudden  and  she  said  to  me  brother  Silas  if  I  was 
you  I  'd  just  write  to  that  Miss  Brewster  and  if 
she  's  a  woman  with  a  heart  in  her  she  '11  feel  for 
that  poor  motherless  little  feller  there  a  toddlin 
about,  and  you  with  your  hands  tied  sos  you  cant 
leave  him  a  minute.  I  'd  take  him  myself  said  she 
if  my  hands  wasnt  tied  too.  Which  is  true  enough 
for  shes  five  of  her  own  and  one  adopted. 

Now  Miss  Brewster  if  you  could  take  my  baby 
for  a  while,  his  name  is  Orlando  and  he  is  18 
months  old  and  help  me  make  a  man  of  him  and 
get  on  my  feet  a  little  and  carry  out  a  scheme  I  've 
got  for  an  improved  churn  I  'd  thank  you  to  my 
dying  day.  I  aint  a  great  hand  at  farm  work  for 
I  cut  my  foot  in  a  mowing  machine  and  have  been 
lame  ever  since  and  my  hearing  is  bad.  So  you 
see  there  aint  much  I  can  do  except  invent  and 
sometimes  if  it  want  for  the  inventing  I  think  Id 


44  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

rather  die.  But  I  do  feel  sure  sometime  if  I  can 
only  get  a  chance  I  can  invent  something  that  will 
sell  and  then  I  can  repay  you. 

If  you  send  for  Orlie  to  go  to  Boston  I  must  stay 
there  too.  I  could  n't  bear  to  be  so  far  away  from 
him.  I  should  die  of  lonesomeness.  Couldn't 
you  get  me  a  chance  there  ?  I  am  forty-six  years 
old  and  a  professor.1 

yr.  ob't  servant, 

SILAS  KITTREDGE. 

t1  Of  religion.  — ED.] 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  England  has  done  for  the  good  of  In- 
dia, the  missionaries  have  done  more  than  all  other  agencies  com- 
bined. —  LORD  LAWRENCE,  in  1871. 

...  all  this  is  very  surprising  when  it  is  considered  that  five 
years  ago  nothing  but  the  fern  flourished  here ;  native  workman- 
ship taught  by  the  missionaries  has  effected  this  change  ;  the  les- 
son of  the  missionaries  is  the  enchanters  wand.  ...  I  look  back 
to  but  one  bright  spot  in  New  Zealand,  and  that  is  Waimate  with 
its  Christian  inhabitants.  —  CHARLES  DARWIN,  Journal  of  Re- 
searches in  Natural  History  and  Geology. 

EXTRACT  FROM  MISS   BREWSTER'S  DIARY. 

FOR  the  first  time  since  the  lawyer's  call  a  week 
ago  I  sit  down  to  collect  my  wits  after  this  whirl 
of  excitement,  and,  like  the  old  woman  in  the 
nursery  rhyme,  ask  myself  if  it  can  be  that  I  am 
really  I. 

I  am  frightfully  tired,  and  it  may  be  childish  to 
write  this  all  out  for  no  one's  eye  but  my  own.  I 
cannot  sleep,  however,  and  I  feel  as  if  it  would  be 
a  relief  and  might  cool  the  fever  in  my  veins  to 
calmly  make  a  record  of  some  of  the  momentous 
events  of  these  last  few  days.  So  many  things  are 
crowding  upon  me  that  I  fear  my  mind  will  be  a 
chaos  if  I  do  not  attempt  something  like  this  to 
help  me  to  quiet  and  arrange  my  thoughts. 

When  Mr.  Kilrain  came  with  the  cablegram  and 
letters,  I  neither  laughed  nor  cried  nor  fainted.  I 


46  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

was  perfectly  calm.  I  did  not  realize  it  in  the  least, 
just  as  a  girl  never  realizes  what  it  all  means  when 
she  kneels  before  the  altar  as  a  bride,  or  when  she 
stands  beside  the  dead  white  face  that  she  has  loved. 

After  the  real  meaning  of  the  thing  dawned  upon 
me  and  I  began  to  comprehend  that  I,  whose  golden 
dreams  had  been  quietly  put  aside  forever,  was 
now  actually  to  realize  those  dreams,  to  exchange 
prose  for  poetry,  and  insignificance  and  uselessness 
for  tremendous  power  such  as  I  had  always  longed 
for,  —  when  the  possibilities  of  it  all  came  over  me 
and  I  saw  that  I  could  now  actually  build  all  my 
air  castles  on  this  earth,  besides  doing  many  other 
things  of  which  I  have  dreamed,  —  it  gave  me  at 
first  a  thorough  ague  fit,  followed  by  a  burning 
fever  which  nothing  could  allay  until  I  had  seen 
my  will  written,  signed,  and  witnessed. 

Every  one  thought  it  such  an  odd  thing  for  me 
to  think  of  at  first.  Auntie  said,  "  Wait  and  take 
time  to  think  it  over,  dear.  You  are  laboring  un- 
der a  nervous  strain  now ;  wait  and  rest  and  enjoy 
yourself  a  little  while.  Go  to  Hollander's  and  or- 
der a  fine  outfit.  I  will  help  you  find  a  French 
maid,  for  you  will  need  one,  of  course ;  then  travel 
after  that,  if  you  like.  Take  time  to  make  up  your 
mind.  It  is  n't  possible  for  you  to  know  how  to 
spend  such  an  enormous  sum  wisely  without  great 
thought." 

I  could  find  no  rest,  however,  until  I  had  put  be- 
yond a  peradventure  the  danger  of  my  dying  and 
leaving  nothing  done  towards  carrying  out  all  the 
projects  which  have  been  so  dear  to  me. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  47 

My  will  is  made,  and  though  I  may  change  it 
next  week,  —  doubtless  I  shall  change  it  more  than 
once  as  I  get  more  wisdom,  —  I  know  that  it  is  in 
the  main  as  I  shall  let  it  stand. 

Mr.  Kilrain's  partner  and  uncle  Madison  start 
at  once  for  South  America  to  look  after  my  inter- 
ests, and  transfer  my  stocks  and  landed  property  as 
soon  as  possible  into  our  government  and  railroad 
bonds.  I  cannot  bear  to  feel  that  I  am  employing 
hundreds  of  people  whom  I  do  not  know,  and  who 
may  suffer  from  the  extortion  of  villainous  agents 
and  overseers  whom  I  cannot  control.  If  I  could 
go  to  South  America  myself,  and  if  I  understood 
enough  of  business  to  administer  my  affairs  person- 
ally, I  might,  perhaps,  do  as  much  good  by  giving 
employment  to  great  numbers  of  people  there,  and 
treating  them  in  a  helpful  Christian  fashion,  as  by 
anything  that  I  can  do  at  home. 

But  it  would  take  me  ten  years  at  least  to  learn 
the  language  and  know  the  people  and  the  business 
merely  in  its  outlines.  My  lawyers  say  it  would 
require  half  a  dozen  of  the  shrewdest  men  simply 
to  make  investments  and  oversee  the  overseers,  and 
I  can  foresee  that  a  woman  dependent  on  lawyers 
and  agents  is  in  no  wise  to  be  envied.  So  I  am 
determined  to  free  myself  from  these  worries  as  to 
the  details  of  making  money,  and  devote  my  whole 
energies  to  making  this  fortune,  which  has  so 
strangely  fallen  to  me,  tell  for  good  in  the  future 
of  our  country. 

I  am  sure  that  nowhere  else  in  Christendom  can 


48  MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 

money  be  made  to  produce  such  far-reaching  re- 
sults. Last  night  I  lay  awake  for  hours,  planning 
this  work.  My  mind  is  made  up.  For  the  next 
few  years  I  shall  travel  and  study,  first,  the  re- 
sources and  necessities  of  our  own  country,  and  af- 
ter that  the  social  and  economic  questions  in  the 
Old  World.  Meanwhile  I  shall  begin  to  carry  out 
some  of  my  schemes  at  once,  and  not  wait  for  law- 
yers and  trustees  to  squabble  over  my  money  after 
my  death. 

As  I  am  planning  to  leave  Boston  soon,  I  deter- 
mined to  meet  some  of  the  people  whom  I  have 
chosen  as  trustees  of  certain  funds.  Accordingly 
I  invited  five  people  of  different  religious  faiths, 
the  broadest-minded  and  most  public-spirited  per- 
sons known  to  me,  —  Revs.  P B ,  A 

McK ,  E.  E.  H ,  P M ,  and  Mrs. 

A F P .     Not  one  of  them  had  an 

inkling  as  to  what  it  was  all  about,  or  knew  who 
were  invited  beside  himself.  Mr.  Kilrain  was 
there  in  obedience  to  my  request.  I  wished  him  to 
see  that  everything  was  done  legally,  and,  besides, 
to  draw  up  all  the  necessary  papers. 

I  fairly  shivered  with  delight  and  excitement  as 
they  came  in  one  by  one  and  I  introduced  myself 
to  them,  feeling  very  much  like  a  young  queen  who 
has  just  ascended  a  throne  and  summons  her  gen- 
erals and  wise  counselors  to  plan  a  campaign. 

I  had  a  dainty  lunch  served  in  a  cosy  little  par- 
lor, and  as  soon  as  the  servants  were  gone  I  began, 
rather  tremulously,  it  must  be  confessed,  to  make 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  49 

my  little  speech.  They  all  knew,  of  course,  that 
they  were  invited  to  give  me  counsel  on  some  phil- 
anthropic matter,  but  further  than  that  they  were 
in  the  dark.  As  nearly  as  I  can  remember  this  is 
what  I  said :  — 

"  You  are  all  aware  that  I  have  asked  the  favor 
of  your  company  to-day  in  order  to  discuss  a  serious 
matter  involving  the  expenditure  of  a  large  sum  of 
money.  I  wish  to  avail  myself  of  the  united  wis- 
dom of  those  present  to  enable  me  to  use  for  good 
and  not  for  evil  the  enormous  wealth  which  has  so 
suddenly  dropped  from  the  skies,  as  it  were,  into 
my  hands. 

"  I  count  myself  as  simply  a  steward,  and  know 
well  that  before  my  own  conscience,  if  before  no 
other  tribunal,  I  shall  be  called  to  account  for  my 
stewardship. 

"  It  is  stated  that  one  of  the  seven  greatest  sources 
of  pauperism  in  London  is  foolish  almsgiving.  I 
am  perfectly  aware  that  I  may  '  give  all  my  goods 
to  feed  the  poor,'  and  do  more  harm  by  it  than  if 
I  threw  my  offerings  into  the  Charles  River. 

"  I  am  convinced  that  if  I  would  help  any  man 
I  must  do  it  by  giving  him  the  means  to  help  him- 
self, and  thus  to  retain  or  gain  his  self-respect. 

"  My  thoughts  and  affections  go  out  most 
strongly  to  our  own  country,  and  therefore  most  of 
my  money  is  to  be  spent  in  it.  I  feel  that  by  help- 
ing to  outline  the  new  paths  which  multitudes  are 
to  follow  here,  I  shall  best  help  the  progress  of 
humanity  everywhere.  But  I  am  not  so  narrow- 


50  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

minded  as  to  think  it  right  to  wait  until  we  get  all 
the  industrial  schools  and  kindergartens  that  we 
need  here,  before  we  teach  the  first  elements  of 
decency  to  our  brothers  and  sisters  in  Africa  and 
every  other  stronghold  of  heathenism  and  savagery, 
My  childhood  was  spent  with  earnest  people  who 
were  interested  in  the  missionary  work.  As  a  child, 
I  read  the  '  Missionary  Herald,'  and  gave  my  mite 
towards  building  the  Morning  Star. 

"  But  of  late  years  I  have  lived  in  a  society 
whose  sentiment  has  been  more  than  half  contempt- 
uous of  foreign  missions.  4  Let  us  civilize  the 
heathen  at  home,'  they  say ;  '  let  us  do  the  duty  that 
lies  nearest,  and  not  meddle  with  what  is  none  of 
our  business.' 

"  I  am  tired  of  this  prating  and  ignorant  talk  by 
would-be  cultured  people  who  know  nothing  of  the 
real  results  of  missionary  work.  They  find  no  fault 
with  actresses  or  sea-captains  or  Bohemians  who 
choose  exile  for  gain  or  pleasure,  but  they  are  al- 
ways ready  to  cry  out  against  the  folly  of  one  who 
goes  to  teach  men  the  alphabet,  and  tell  women  that 
they  are  something  more  than  beasts  of  burden  or 
mere  child-bearing  animals. 

"  I  am  constantly  meeting  people  who  talk  as  if 
Buddhism  contained  all  that  is  of  value  in  Chris- 
tianity, and  who  actually  scoff  at  any  attempt  to 
disturb  what  they  call  the  picturesque,  simple  faith 
of  their  carvers  of  ivory  bric-a-brac. 

"  I  revere  Buddha.  I  do  not  ignore  the  fact 
that  in  all  ages  God  has  not  left  himself  without  a 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  51 

witness,  and  that  many  seers  and  prophets  have 
led  the  nations  toward  the  light.  But  I  prefer  the 
sunlight  to  the  twilight,  and  what  vision  of  truth 
has  come  to  me  I  would  pass  along  to  others.  Es- 
pecially do  I  long  to  help  the  women.  Sometimes 
their  degradation  and  helplessness  appeals  so  pow- 
erfully to  my  imagination  that  I  feel  that  I  must 
give  my  money  and  my  time  without  stint,  until 
selfish,  indifferent  Christendom  is  forced  to  remem- 
ber what  is  the  true  condition  of  two  thirds  of  the 
world." 

I  was  trembling  all  over  with  nervous  excitement, 
and,  as  usual,  was  so  absorbed  in  what  I  was  saying 
as  to  quite  forget  to  wonder  what  these  five  people, 
so  much  older  and  wiser  and  more  experienced 
than  I,  must  think  of  my  sitting  there  and  talking 
to  them  in  this  fashion.  I  am  dreadfully  afraid 
it  must  have  seemed  conceited  or  audacious  or 
something  of  the  sort.  However,  they  knew  noth- 
ing about  me  or  my  ideas,  and  as  it  was  quite 
necessary  that  they  should  understand  my  position 
before  they  could  give  me  any  counsel,  I  proceeded 
to  make  it  known. 

"  I  am  not  content,"  I  said,  "  with  most  methods 
that  have  been  used.  Sectarianism,  bigotry,  and 
ignorance  have  often  perverted  the  best  results. 
The  good  souls  who  fear  to  send  a  preacher,  no 
matter  how  devoted,  unless  he  preach  exactly  their 
'  ism,'  seem  to  me  to  be  retarding  by  many  years 
the  consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished.  The 
most  Christlike  men  whom  I  know  could  not  be 


52  MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE. 

sent  out  as  missionaries  by  the  American  Board. 
I  believe  there  are  hundreds  of  ardent  young  souls 
who  would  be  led  to  offer  themselves  for  work  in 
foreign  lands  if  the  restrictions  of  creed  did  not 
stand  in  the  way. 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  do  not  condemn 
creeds.  Doubtless  every  one  who  thinks  must 
have  some  kind  of  a  creed,  however  short  it  be. 
But  in  the  making  of  bequests,  in  endowments 
which  are  to  help  affect  the  thought  of  future  gen- 
erations, it  seems  to  me  difficult  to  avoid  ultimate 
lawsuits,  temptation  to  mental  dishonesty,  and  infi- 
nite harm,  unless  the  founder  works  on  the  broad- 
est principles  and  sees  the  work  begun  in  his  life- 
time. 

"  I  have  written  my  will  this  week  and  have  de- 
voted a  very  large  sum  of  money  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  fund,  the  amount  of  which  I  shall  not  at 
present  name,  to  be  used  as  follows  :  — 

"  For  the  management  and  expenditure  of  this 
fund  I  have  chosen  five  trustees.  These  shall 
fill  vacancies  in  their  number  as  they  occur  from 
death,  resignation,  incapacity,  or  whatever  cause. 
One  member,  at  least,  shall  always  be  a  woman, 
and  as  many  as  three  Christian  denominations  shall 
always  be  represented  among  the  five  trustees. 

"The  fund  shall  be  called  the  'Christian  Mis- 
sionary Fund,'  and  the  work  shall  be,  so  far  as  the 
trustees  are  concerned,  entirely  unsectarian,  though 
always  distinctly  Christian  and  Protestant. 

"The  fund  shall  be  devoted  to  the  following 
purposes : 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  53 

"  First,  for  promoting  the  spiritual  and  mental, 
and  thus  indirectly  the  material,  welfare  of  the 
most  helpless  and  degraded  people  on  the  globe. 

"  Second,  for  promoting  Christianity  and  educa- 
tion in  lands  like  Japan,  where  there  is  already  an 
awakened  aspiration  for  better  things,  and  hence 
the  most  immediate  results  may  be  anticipated. 

"Third,  for  promoting  such  measures  as  shall 
diminish  the  slave-trade  wherever  it  exists,  and  for 
preventing  the  liquor  traffic  between  civilized  and 
barbarous  nations,  for  instance,  such  as  is  now  dis- 
gracing and  desolating  tlie  Congo  State. 

"  Any  man  or  woman  who  applies  to  be  sent  out 
as  preacher,  teacher,  or  agent,  for  promoting  any  of 
these  ends,  shall  be  accepted  if  he  or  she  give  satis- 
factory evidence  to  the  committee  of  being  fitted 
to  do  sufficiently  helpful  work  in  the  positions  to 
which  they  are  assigned.  No  acceptation  of  any 
creed  shall  be  required  of  any  applicant.  After 
being  enrolled  for  the  work,  however,  all  shall  be 
required  to  leave  detailed  written  statements  of 
their  religious  beliefs.  These  are  to  be  kept  on  file 
for  statistical  purposes,  together  with  the  records 
of  the  subsequent  work  of  the  candidates,  their 
methods  of  labor,  and  the  results  accomplished. 

"Every  woman  employed  by  the  trustees  shall 
receive  the  same  salary  as  a  man  would  receive  for 
doing  the  same  work.  In  sending  out  preachers 
and  pastors  no  distinction  shall  be  made  in  regard 
to  sex.  All  women  desiring  to  preach  and  to  ad- 
minister the  sacraments  shall  be  authorized  to  do 
so  if  possessed  of  proper  qualifications." 


54  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

In  regard  to  that  latter  clause  I  had  had  consid- 
erable discussion  with  auntie  previous  to  convening 
the  trustees. 

"Isn't  that  a  little  odd?"  she  asked.  "lam 
afraid  some  clergymen  would  be  shocked  at  that." 

"  Aunt  Madison,"  I  said,  "  if  it  is  desirable  to 
have  the  sacraments  of  communion  or  baptism  cel- 
ebrated at  all,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  they  can- 
not be  done  by  a  woman's  hand  as  well  as  by  that 
of  a  man  ?  If  the  hand  that  made  the  bread  does 
not  desecrate  it,  why  may  not  that  same  hand 
break  and  pass  it,  provided  it  be  done  in  a  proper 
spirit  ?  Is  a  man's  hand  any  more  sacred  than  a 
woman's  ?  " 

"  Oh,  it  is  n't  that,"  said  auntie,  fidgeting  a  lit- 
tle ;  "  but  it  is  the  words  and  the  service  which 
go  with  it,  of  course." 

"  Certainly,"  said  I,  —  rather  bluntly,  too,  I  am 
afraid,  —  "  and  those  words  consist  of  quotations 
from  the  words  of  Christ  and  Paul,  and  a  prayer. 
I  see  no  reason  why  quotations  and  prayer  uttered 
by  a  female  voice  may  not  be  just  as  acceptable  to 
the  Almighty  as  if  spoken  by  a  male  voice.  (I 
hate  those  words  '  male  '  and  '  female,'  but  I 
thought  it  would  help  her  to  see  the  absurdity  of 
our  conventional  notions  about  such  things." 

"  Well,  dear,  perhaps  so,  if  you  look  at  it  that 
way,"  she  said ;  "  but  what  do  you  think  the  apos- 
tles would  have  thought  of  such  a  thing?  " 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  said  I,  "  the  members 
of  the  early  church,  who  ate  at  one  table,  and  had 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  55 

all  things  in  common,  and  celebrated  their  Lord's 
death  at  the  close  of  their  meal  in  the  simplest 
way  in  the  world,  probably  passed  the  cup  from 
one  to  the  other  informally,  and  women  as  well  as 
men  took  part  in  what  little  service  there  was.  It 
seems  to  me  in  this  age  of  common  sense  on  other 
subjects  it  is  time  we  had  a  little  more  of  it  in 
religion." 

How  saucy  that  appears  as  I  write  it.  I  wonder 
if  I  am  getting  dictatorial. 

I  told  the  trustees,  that,  although  their  work  as 
trustees  was  to  be  entirely  undenominational,  and 
that  they  were  to  discourage  any  sectarian  work  in 
whatever  schools  and  churches  might  be  established, 
this  was  not  to  be  interpreted  to  mean  a  refusal  to 
send  good  men  and  women,  even  if  they  held  nar- 
row sectarian  views.  I  hold  myself  too  liberal  to 
refuse  to  send  any  one  who  can  do  any  good,  even 
though  he  hold  mediaeval  views  on  eschatology. 
If  a  man  can  persuade  a  savage  to  wash  his  face 
and  stop  beating  his  wife,  I  am  willing  to  allow  him 
his  cassock  and  crucifix  and  all  the  joys  of  a  celi- 
bate High  Churchism,  so  long,  at  least,  as  he  holds 
himself  responsible  to  no  other  body  than  the  com- 
mittee of  my  choosing.  I  have  observed  that  a 
fair  amount  of  civilization,  intelligence,  and  real 
Christianity  can  co-exist  with  a  very  crude  theology. 
So  any  good  man  who  cares  enough  about  helping 
his  fellow-men  to  work  hard  on  a  moderate  salary, 
as  an  exile  in  a  heathen  land,  shall  not  be  hin- 
dered from  going  until  enough  better  men  offer 
themselves  to  take  his  place. 


56  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

I  told  my  guests  that  I  wished  to  begin  the 
work  at  once.  Without  stating  whether  or  not 
they  were  the  trustees  referred  to  in  my  will,  I 
asked  them  to  assume  for  the  next  three  years  the 
responsibility  of  disbursing  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  annually  in  the  way  I  had  specified.  I 
shall  keep  the  money  in  my  own  hands  so  that  they 
need  not  be  troubled  about  investments,  and  shall 
pay  the  amount  in  installments,  as  they  call  for  it. 

I  requested  them  to  do  exactly  as  they  thought 
best,  without  any  more  reference  to  me  than  if  I 
were  dead,  except  when  they  came  to  any  misun- 
derstanding in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  my 
wishes  as  expressed  above. 

I  shall  have  accurate  reports  of  their  proceedings, 
and  thus  be  able  to  rectify  any  point  that  is  left 
obscure,  or  that  is  capable  of  abuse. 

I  requested  that  my  name  should  not  be  made 
known  in  connection  with  all  this. 

When  I  had  finished  there  was  a  pause ;  then 

Dr.  H in  his  genial  way  began  —  But  I  can 

write  no  more  to-night. 

(Extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  "  Church  Inquisitor.") 
It  is  with  feelings  of  mingled  interest  and  alarm 
that  we  report  as  the  most  notable  of  recent  events 
in  the   religious   world   the   announcement  of  an 
enormous  bequest  for  foreign  missionary  work. 

"  Why  alarm  ?  "  may  be  asked.  But  a  careful 
reading  of  the  provisions  of  the  bequest  which  we 
publish  in  another  column  will  assure  the  reader 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  57 

that  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  given  are  un- 
precedented and  allow  possibilities  so  dangerous  as 
to  create  great  anxiety  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  well  grounded  in  the  faith  and  zealous  for  the 
maintenance  of  pure  doctrine.  As  it  is  needless 
to  say  that  in  matters  of  such  moment  we  hold 
that  the  most  stringent  regulations  and  careful 
scrutiny  should  be  exercised,  it  is  evident  that  the 
utter  abolishing  of  all  tests,  allowing  the  teaching 
of  the  most  dangerous  heresies  by  Unitarians, 
Universalists,  Spiritualists,  Christian  Scientists  and 
what  not,  —  and  this  to  be  done  in  the  name  of 
Christian  Missions,  —  is  startling,  to  say  the  least. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  to  the  mind  of  the 
untutored  savage  unable  to  distinguish  genuine 
Christianity  from  that  which  is  spurious,  and  as 
likely  to  accept  the  one  as  the  other,  the  danger  of 
confounding  the  two  to  the  discredit  of  all  true 
piety  will  be  great,  if  the  restrictions  laid  down  in 
the  bequest  are  to  be  binding. 

To  be  sure,  the  men  and  women  sent  out  by 
this  fund  must  be  presumed  to  possess  a  fair 
amount  of  intellect  and  moral  character,  though 
how  their  spiritual  condition  is  to  be  ascertained 
before  hearing  a  statement  of  their  creed  we  fail 
to  see.  Doubtless  something  may  be  done  in  the 
way  of  building  up  schools  and  supplementing  the 
work  of  those  whom  our  Board  sends  to  preach 
the  gospel.  For  this  we  rejoice  and  give  thanks. 
Knowing  the  genuine  Christian  character  of  some 
members  of  the  committee,  we  are  led  to  hope  that 


58  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

they  will  deem  no  one  fit  to  send  out  as  a  pro- 
claimer  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  who  holds 
the  evidently  loose  views  of  the  framer  of  this 
singular  bequest.  As  only  one  of  the  trustees  is  a 
Unitarian,  and  as  Unitarians  are  proverbially  in- 
different to  foreign  missions,  it  seems  to  leave  con- 
siderable ground  for  the  hope  that  none  of  that 
sect  will  apply,  or,  if  applying,  will  be  sent. 

The  donor's  name  is  withheld,  but  it  is  shrewdly 
surmised  to  be  the  late  Mr.  Albert  Danforth  of 
Springfield,  formerly  a  noted  Free-thinker,  but  who 
is  said  to  have  had  a  deathbed  repentance  and  to 
have  attempted  to  appease  his  conscience  by  be- 
stowing his  vast  wealth  in  the  manner  described. 
In  this  case  why  his  name  should  be  withheld  re- 
mains a  mystery. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  another  peculiar  feature 
of  the  bequest  is  that  one  trustee  at  least  shall  al- 
ways be  a  woman.  In  the  course  of  time  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  all  of  them  being  women,  as 
four  of  the  five  appointed  are  known  to  be  in  favor 
of  female  suffrage.  As  the  late  Mr.  Danforth, 
among  his  other  radical  notions,  held  the  same  un- 
scriptural  view  of  woman's  functions,  the  promo- 
tion of  "  women's  rights  "  views  by  the  endowment 
in  question  is  to  be  feared. 

It  is,  perhaps,  well  enough  to  pay  women  in  the 
mission  field  the  same  sum  as  that  given  to  men 
for  the  same  work,  though  this  possibly  would  be 
too  attractive  an  allurement  for  some  unworthy 
persons  who  might  assume  the  sacred  duties  in 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  59 

question  for  the  sake  of  the  loaves  and  fishes. 
But  what  seems  especially  unwise  as  well  as  wholly 
unscriptural,  and  of  which  we  feel  compelled  to 
assert  our  disapproval,  is  the  provision  that  women 
shall  be  permitted  to  administer  the  holy  sacra- 
ments. See  Corinthians  i.  14,  34,  and  xi.  3,  7. 

There  seems  to  be  no  serious  objection  to  women 
preaching  to  assemblies  of  their  own  sex  where 
male  missionaries  cannot  be  admitted ;  but  that 
such  an  extreme  step  should  be  taken  as  to  dese- 
crate and  turn  into  a  farce  the  ordinances  of  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  by  allowing  them  to 
be  administered  by  a  woman,  is  something  that  we 
must  deplore. 

Were  it  not  that  most  of  the  trustees  appointed 
represent  the  new  school  of  thought,  which  seems 
to  rely  more  on  reason  than  on  the  Written  Word, 
we  should  wonder  at  their  being  able  to  satisfy 
their  consciences  if  they  accept  responsibilities  en- 
cumbered by  such  restrictions. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

LETTER  TO  AN  INTIMATE  FRIEND. 

FIFTH  AVENUE  HOTEL,  NEW  YORK,  February  — ,  18 — . 
MY  DEAR  ALICE,  —  I  ran  away  from  Boston 
without  saying  good-by  to  you.  Dr.  Wesselhoeft 
predicted  all  sorts  of  horrors  —  hysterics,  St.  Vi- 
tus's  dance,  nervous  prostration,  and  I  don't  know 
what  else,  if  I  did  not  at  once  get  away  from  the 
hosts  of  people  who  drove  me  distracted  with  an 
incessant  ringing  of  the  door-bell  from  breakfast 
until  bedtime.  I  was  not  aware  that  I  had  so 
many  friends  before.  Every  pupil  I  have  ever 
had,  every  passing  acquaintance  even,  has  felt  it 
to  be  his  or  her  privilege  and  duty  to  call  and  con- 
gratulate me  and  bore  me  to  death  with  their  ec- 
stasies and  flatteries. 

I  rather  liked  it  at  first,  I  must  confess.  It  was 
all  so  novel  to  me,  and  it  showed  some  of  my  ac- 
quaintances in  an  entirely  new  light,  which,  I 
found,  gave  me  an  admirable  opportunity  for  a 
study  of  character  on  its  drollest  side.  Whenever 
I  entered  the  reception  room  and  found  it  lined 
with  callers  waiting  all  on  tiptoe  for  my  appear- 
ance, I  really  felt  like  a  president  beset  by  office- 
seekers  during  his  first  month  at  the  White  House. 

But  a  few  days  of  all  this  rather  nauseated  me, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.  61 

and  I  thanked  my  fortune  that  it  had  not  come 
at  my  birth,  but  had  allowed  me  to  make  many 
true  and  tried  friends  before  bestowing  on  me  what 
I  fear  will  now  always  make  me  suspicious  of  a 
lack  of  disinterestedness  in  every  new-comer. 

However,  in  leaving  Boston  and  coming  to  New 
York  I  fancy  that  I  have  only  jumped  out  of  the 
frying-pan  into  the  fire,  for  letters  pursue  me  every- 
where. I  devote  every  forenoon  to  reading  them 
and  dictating  replies  to  my  amanuensis.  Many 
of  them  are  applications  for  money  or  help  of  some 
sort,  some  of  them  outrageous,  and  some  very  piti- 
ful indeed.  I  had  one  some  days  ago  from  a  poor 
fellow  in  Vermont,  who  fancied  himself  an  inventor. 
He  had  just  lost  his  wife  and  two  children,  and 
implored  me  to  "  help  him  make  a  man  "  of  the 
only  little  one  left  to  him.  His  letter  sounded  so 
forlorn  that  it  went  to  my  heart,  so  I  sent  tele- 
grams of  inquiry  about  him  to  the  postmaster  and 
the  minister  in  his  native  town.  They  answered 
my  questions  satisfactorily,  and  I  sent  at  once  for 
the  man  to  come. 

Such  a  dazed,  bewildered-looking  creature  as  he 
was,  to  be  sure,  when  he  stepped  out  of  the  car- 
riage, which  I  had  sent  for  him,  and  stumbled 
clumsily  up  the  steps  with  his  baby,  tied  up  in  an 
old  red  shawl,  in  his  arms  ! 

He  told  me  the  simple  story  of  his  life,  its  little 
ambitions  and  narrow  outlook;  of  his  conversion 
and  his  courtship,  and  of  the  horrors  of  disease 
and  death  and  poverty,  to  which  his  pinched  face 


62  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

and  trembling  hands  bore  witness.  The  boy  was 
a  pathetic  little  morsel  of  humanity,  and  his  sad 
little  mouth  won  my  heart.  I  have  taken  charge 
of  the  child,  and,  please  God,  I  will  "  make  a  man 
of  him."  The  father  is  quite  unfit  for  hard  work, 
and  what  to  do  with  him  I  did  not  know,  when 
suddenly  I  bethought  myself  of  a  magazine  article 
which  you  loaned  me  some  time  ago,  apropos  of 
"A  Universal  Tinker."  The  man  is  clever  with 
tools,  I  hear,  and  just  the  one  to  do  odd  bits  of 
mending  and  attending  to  the  thousand  and  one 
things  which  are  always  getting  out  of  order 
about  a  house.  So  I  sent  him  with  a  letter  to  all 
my  Back  Bay  friends,  and  eight  of  them  have  of- 
fered to  pay  him  five  dollars  a  month  each,  on  con- 
dition that  he  keep  everything  in  their  establish- 
ments in  repair.  I  have  given  him  a  chest  of 
tools,  and  have  found  a  good  home  for  him.  A 
widow  in  straitened  circumstances,  whom  also  I 
wish  to  help,  but  who  will  not  accept  charity,  is 
glad  to  receive  him  and  his  child  into  her  family. 
Really,  the  man  seems  already  like  another  crea- 
ture. He  has  taken  on  a  new  look  of  self-respect 
and  courage  that  makes  his  commonplace,  weather- 
beaten  face  fairly  radiant. 

This  whole  experience  has  given  me  intense 
satisfaction.  I  had  almost  made  up  my  mind  to 
pay  no  heed  to  these  calls,  which  demand  so  much 
of  my  time  and  prove,  at  least  half  of  them,  to 
come  from  frauds  and  impostors.  In  fact,  it  was 
merely  as  an  experiment,  and  chiefly  to  indulge  my 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  63 

curiosity,  that  I  heeded  this  case.  I  am  now  de- 
termined to  have  every  appeal  for  help  that  seems 
at  all  deserving  thoroughly  investigated,  and  I 
foresee  that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  have  more  than 
one  agent  to  attend  to  it  all. 

I  had  an  extraordinary  experience  last  night,  of 
which  I  must  tell  you,  though  my  ears  tingle  yet 
at  the  thought  of  it.  I  wonder  if  this  is  a  foretaste 
of  the  penalties  which  I  am  doomed  to  pay  for  the 
sin  of  being  a  great  heiress.  I  had  always  won- 
dered how  rich  women  could  endure  to  make  such 
a  display  of  diamonds  at  parties  and  balls  as  to  ne- 
cessitate their  being  dogged  by  private  detectives 
everywhere.  I  always  maintained  that  a  woman 
was  an  idiot  who  would  thus  let  herself  become 
such  a  slave  to  her  wealth.  I  was  sure  that  any 
one  who  lived  simply,  and  did  not  care  for  show, 
could  go  alone  where  she  pleased,  and  have  no 
fears ;  but  my  theories  are  getting  sadly  shaken. 
However,  I  am  digressing.  Now  about  this  affair 
last  night. 

I  received  a  beautifully  written  note  the  other 
day,  delicately  perfumed,  and  bearing  a  seal 
stamped  with  a  coat  of  arms,  and  signed  Manuel 
Altiova.  The  writer  intimated  that  he  had  been  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Dunreath,  and  had  matters  of  impor- 
tance to  tell  me.  He  begged  the  favor  of  an  inter- 
view. I  surmised  that  he  was  a  scamp,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  thought  it  possible  that  he  might  be 
some  titled  wealthy  Spaniard  who  had  met  Mr. 
Dunreath  in  South  America,  and  who  could  give  me 


64  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

some  information  about  the  locality  of  my  posses- 
sions. So  I  had  my  amanuensis  send  him  a  formal 
note  in  reply  asking  him  to  call  on  me  last  evening. 

I  told  my  maid  Helene  to  remain  in  the  next 
room  with  the  door  ajar,  and  when  his  card  was 
sent  up,  followed  almost  immediately  by  himself,  I 
arose  to  receive  him  with  some  curiosity. 

Tableau.  Enter,  with  many  bows,  a  tall,  black- 
eyed  man  of  perhaps  thirty-five,  clad  in  faultless 
dress  ;  in  short,  to  all  outward  appearance,  an  ele- 
gant Adonis. 

I  let  him  tell  his  story,  and  said  nothing  for 
awhile.  He  professed  to  have  been  most  intimately 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Dunreath,  and  produced  a 
photograph  of  him.  Subsequently,  he  showed  me 
some  letters  in  Mr.  Dunreath's  handwriting  refer- 
ring to  some  dishonorable  business  transactions  by 
which  Mr.  D.  had  greatly  augmented  his  fortunes, 
and  for  which  he  would  have  suffered  the  full  pen- 
alty of  the  law  except  for  the  timely  and  most  self- 
sacrificing  intervention  of  his  "  noble  and  devoted 
friend,"  Manuel  Altiova. 

I  was  thunderstruck.  The  hot  blood  mounted 
to  my  temples,  and  for  a  moment  everything  seemed 
to  reel  before  me.  Was  all  my  happiness  a  dream  ? 
Was  I  then  enjoying  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  a 
swindler?  I  looked  at  the  letters.  There  could 
be  no  mistake  about  the  handwriting.  That  very 
forenoon,  with  my  lawyer,  I  had  been  carefully 
examining  a  dozen  documents  in  that  same  queer 
crabbed  hand,  which  I  had  known  so  well  in  the 
days  when  I  was  a  girl  and  had  a  lover. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  65 

Five  years  ago  it  was,  but  it  seemed  fifty,  as  I 
sat  there  staring  dizzily  at  those  letters  and  trying 
to  realize  that  this  man  whom  I  had  loved  almost 
enough  to  marry,  this  man  whom  I  would  have 
sworn  was  honor  itself,  was  false,  basely  false. 
Oh,  it  seemed  a  thing  incredible ;  yet,  as  I  thought 
of  how  in  these  last  few  years  for  month  after 
month  society  has  been  shocked  by  the  fall  of 
those  who  have  stood  most  high  in  our  esteem,  yet 
who  have  been  tempted  to  sell  their  souls  for  gold, 
I  believed  it  all. 

I  remember  thinking  vaguely  of  how  I  must  try 
to  find  out  the  men  whom  Mr.  Dunreath  had  de- 
frauded, and  return  to  them  this  money,  which  was 
theirs,  not  mine.  Then  I  roused  myself  and  ques- 
tioned him,  trying  to  appear  as  indifferent  and  non- 
committal as  possible,  though  I  could  feel  my  tem- 
ples throbbing,  and  I  knew  my  cheeks  were  hot. 
He  answered  my  questions  without  the  slightest 
hesitation,  giving  names,  dates,  and  localities  with 
startling  readiness  and  apparent  sincerity.  He 
mentioned  various  little  peculiarities  of  Mr.  Dun- 
reath's,  —  his  never  eating  butter,  his  being  left- 
handed,  and  so  on. 

At  last  I  could  ask  no  more.  I  felt  as  though  I 
should  suffocate.  The  man  went  on  talking,  how- 
ever, telling  his  own  family  history.  His  father 
was  a  learned  professor,  his  mother  a  lady  of  noble 
birth.  He  was  born  at  Barcelona,  had  been  des- 
tined from  childhood  to  take  orders  in  the  Romish 
Church,  and  was  finally  disinherited  by  his  stern 


66  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

father  for  his  avowed  Protestant  and  Republican 
doctrines,  to  say  nothing  of  his  refusal  to  wed  the 
woman  of  his  father's  choice  when  all  hope  of  his 
entering  the  church  had  been  abandoned.  With  his 
own  little  private  fortune  of  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars he  had  sailed  for  Brazil,  and  had  entered  the 
service  of  Mr.  Dunreath.  Soon  he  became  the  de- 
voted friend  of  that  gentleman,  was  intrusted  with 
his  confidence,  and  became  cognizant  of  all  his  af- 
fairs. Mr.  Dunreath  had  fully  expected  to  return 
to  him  the  thousands  which  he  had  so  generously 
made  over  to  the  officials  in  the  nick  of  time,  thus 
preventing  the  pursuit  which  would  have  ended  in 
his  arrest  and  conviction,  with  the  subsequent  sur- 
render to  the  state  of  many  of  his  millions. 

Mr.  Altiova,  or  rather  Senor  as  he  called  him- 
self, presently  let  me  understand  the  chief  purpose 
of  his  visit.  As  you  will  readily  guess,  he  desired 
me  to  pay  him  the  sum  which  he  had  spent,  namely, 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  all  his  little  fortune.  In 
another  letter  which  he  produced,  Mr.  Dunreath 
had  promised  to  return  this  sum  doubled,  and  this 
promise  was  in  the  act  of  fulfillment  on  the  very 
day  of  the  fatal  sunstroke. 

Senor  Altiova  modestly  disclaimed  any  desire 
that  this  generous  offer  should  be  fulfilled  by  Mr. 
Dunreath's  heirs,  and  declared  that  he  would  be 
quite  content  to  receive  only  the  sum  which  he  had 
spent.  He  paused  for  my  reply.  Meanwhile  I 
had  been  gradually  collecting  my  wits,  and  was  able 
to  control  my  voice  enough  to  say  that  I  must  first 
consult  with  my  lawyer. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  67 

"  But,  Miss  Brewster,"  he  urged,  "  that,  you 
see,  is  impossible.  Will  you  disclose  Mr.  Dun- 
reath's  felony  ?  Will  you  create  a  needless  scan- 
dal and  lose  your  fortune  ?  No ;  if  you  will  but 
settle  this  little  business  with  me  (the  sum,  of 
course,  is  but  a  mere  bagatelle  to  a  rich  lady  like 
you),  the  secret  will  remain  forever  buried  in  my 
bosom,  and  no  mortal  shall  know  what  has  passed 
between  us.  The  moment  you  hand  me  your 
check  for  twenty  thousand  dollars,  payable  to  the 
bearer,  that  moment  you  shall  with  your  own  hand 
burn  these  incriminating  letters." 

I  reiterated  that  in  spite  of  the  danger  of  bring- 
ing ignominy  upon  the  name  of  my  old  friend,  I 
should  consult  my  lawyer  before  taking  any  steps 
in  the  matter. 

"  But  I  can't  wait,"  he  retorted  almost  fiercely, 
and  there  was  a  look  in  his  eyes  which  made  me 
start.  My  heart  rose.  Could  it  be  that  those  ter- 
rible letters  were  only  clever  forgeries?  He  in- 
stantly recollected  himself,  however,  and  his  tone 
assumed  a  touch  of  pathos. 

"  Miss  Brewster,"  he  said,  and  there  was  a 
tremor  in  his  voice  as  he  looked  at  me  beseechingly; 
"  my  mother,  whom  I  have  not  seen  for  years,  is 
dying.  The  physician  gives  her  at  most  only  a 
month  to  live.  Unknown  to  my  father  she  has 
cabled  me  to  return  instantly.  Ah,  my  sweet 
mother,"  he  murmured,  as  if  speaking  to  himself, 
while  his  eyes  were  wet  with  unshed  tears,  "the 
moments  are  years  until  I  see  her.  Oh,  if  J  should 


68  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

be  too  late !  And  then  —  who  knows  ?  perhaps,  — 
yes,  —  perhaps,  if  I  may  stand  beside  my  mother's 
deathbed,  my  stern  old  father  may  be  reconciled 
to  me  —  may  bid  me  stay,  and  I  may  have  the 
unspeakable  comfort  of  sustaining  his  declining 
years." 

I  watched  him  keenly.  If  this  were  acting,  it  had 
been  very  good  acting  until  now.  But  these  last 
few  words  had  a  false  ring  in  them,  which  even  my 
unpracticed  ear  detected.  With  a  mournful  sigh 
he  showed  me  two  miniatures  painted  on  ivory,  one 
the  face  of  a  handsome,  dark -eyed  woman,  the 
other  that  of  a  scholarly-looking  man  of  middle 
age.  These,  he  said,  were  the  portraits  of  his  father 
and  mother,  and  as  he  returned  the  latter  to  its 
velvet  case  he  pressed  it  tenderly  to  his  lips. 

It  was  very  touching,  and  I  was  half  convinced, 
especially  when  my  eye  fell  again  on  that  curious 
handwriting  whose  peculiarities  I  knew  so  well. 
The  man  evidently  saw  that  I  was  agitated  and 
afraid  that  his  story  might,  after  all,  be  true.  He 
continued :  — 

"  But,  Miss  Brewster,  I  have  no  money.  I  ar- 
rived here  last  week  from  Rio  Janeiro.  My  father 
has  disinherited  me,  as  I  have  told  you.  My  little 
private  fortune,  my  mother's  gift,  which  I  could 
have  doubled  in  a  year's  time  by  my  investments, 
was  all  given  to  save  my  friend.  Madame ! "  he 
cried,  "  where  is  your  sense  of  justice  —  simple  jus- 
tice —  if  you  refuse  me  the  paltry  sum  which  saved 
the  reputation  and  wealth  of  the  man  whose  heiress 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  69 

you  now  are  ?  You  have  his  own  confession  here 
before  you,  signed  with  his  name.  The  evidence  is 
unimpeachable.  If  I  bring  it  into  court,  it  may 
cost  you  half  your  millions.  Madame,  the  Urania 
sails  to-morrow,  I  must  go.  I  must  have  money, 
the  money  you  owe  me.  If  you  refuse  "  — 

I  rose  to  bring  this  extraordinary  interview  to  an 
immediate  close.  I  was  shaking  from  head  to  foot 
and  thankful  beyond  measure  that  Helene,  who 
had  doubtless  heard  the  whole  conversation,  under- 
stood too  little  English  to  realize  its  import.  I  was 
convinced  that  I  had  to  deal  with  a  very  shrewd, 
clever  villain,  who  had  worked  up  his  facts  most 
adroitly,  and  was  trying  a  desperate  confidence 
game.  But  he  was  not  to  be  gotten  rid  of  so  ea- 
sily. Suddenly  falling  upon  one  knee,  he  grasped 
my  hand  as  I  stood  before  him  and  poured  out  a 
torrent  of  words,  of  which  I  remember  nothing,  for 
I  was  too  indignant  and  astounded  even  to  think  of 
calling  upon  Helene.  We  must  have  looked  for  all 
the  world  like  the  tragic  pictures  in  the  "  Police 
Gazette,"  which  my  naughty  youngsters  used  to  dis- 
play behind  my  back  at  the  Mission  School. 

Suddenly  I  came  to  my  senses.  I  don't  suppose 
the  whole  scene  lasted  half  a  minute  at  most. 
Tearing  my  hand  away,  I  was  rushing  for  Helene, 
—  who,  as  I  learned  afterward,  was  sound  asleep, 
with  the  door  blown  to,  —  when,  as  a  last  bit  of 
desperation,  what  did  this  man  do,  but  snatch  a 
dainty  little  pistol  from  his  hip  pocket,  and  before 
I  could  scream  or  even  gasp  an  articulate  word  he 


70  MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

aimed  it  at  his  temples  and  seemed  about  to  fire. 
I  can  hardly  tell  what  I  did  then.  I  believe  I 
screamed,  and  I  must  have  rushed  upon  the  mad- 
man, for  the  next  instant  I  found  myself  with  the 
pistol  in  my  hand  trying  to  fire  it  up  the  chimney, 
while  the  Senor  lay  prostrate  apparently  in  a  swoon. 
But  the  pistol  would  not  fire  ;  evidently  it  was  not 
loaded.  I  dropped  it  into  the  smouldering  ashes, 
and  staggered  into  the  next  room,  where  my  stupid 
maid  lay  soundly  sleeping  on  the  sofa.  Faint  and 
trembling  I  dropped  into  the  nearest  chair.  I  could 
not  have  walked  six  inches  further,  and  was  too 
weak  to  attempt  to  arouse  Helene.  On  the  whole, 
I  was  glad  not  to  do  so,  for  she  would  have  been  too 
frightened  to  be  of  the  least  use.  Moreover,  she 
would  have  raised  the  neighborhood  with  her 
shrieks,  while  I  should  have  been  ready  to  die  with 
mortification  and  disgust. 

In  imagination  I  saw  the  lurid  head  lines  of  the 
next  day's  columns  of  society  gossip  and  scandal. 
"  Dunreath's  Defalcation  !  "  "  How  it  Horrifies 
His  Heiress  ! !  "  I  saw  myself  posing  as  the  hero- 
ine of  a  sixth-rate  dime  novel ;  on  whose  pages 
alone,  as  I  had  always  supposed,  such  experiences 
as  this  ever  took  place.  It  did  not  take  three  sec- 
onds for  all  this  to  flash  through  my  brain  and 
make  the  cold  sweat  stand  out  in  drops  upon  my 
forehead. 

Just  then  I  heard  a  faint  click,  and  summoning 
courage  to  look  into  the  drawing-room,  what  was 
my  unutterable  relief  to  find  the  room  empty.  The 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  71 

wretch  had  vanished.  To  tell  the  truth,  at  that 
juncture  I  came  about  as  near  verifying  the  doc- 
tor's prediction  in  regard  to  hysterics  as  I  ever  did 
in  my  life. 

Now  for  the  sequel.  This  afternoon  I  received 
the  following  note,  which  I  inclose  for  your  benefit. 

Miss  BREWSTER. 

MADAM,  —  John  I.  Carrigain,  alias  Count  Pe- 
periiio,  alias  Dr.  Kametski,  alias  Manuel  Altiova, 
aged  thirty-four  years  and  seven  months,  was 
born  in  Manchester,  England,  of  an  English  father 
and  Portuguese  mother,  received  a  good  education, 
was  arrested  for  forgery  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
served  out  a  sentence  of  five  years,  and  on  release 
was  sent  to  New  York  by  a  charitable  agency.  He 
was  suspected  of  being  accessory  to  one  of  the 
largest  swindling  operations  ever  undertaken  in 
New  York  city,  but  as  nothing  could  be  proved,  he 
was  released  from  custody  and  began  operations  in 
Chicago,  obtaining  money  under  various  false  pre- 
tences. At  first  he  met  with  great  success,  but  was 
finally  convicted  and  sentenced  to  six  years  in  the 
state  prison.  He  was  released  from  Joliet  six 
months  ago,  but,  until  your  communication  last 
night,  had  not  been  known  to  be  in  New  York.  A 
person  answering  his  description  was  seen  to  take 
the  northern  express  last  evening  with  a  ticket  for 
some  point  in  Canada.  The  man  is  a  clever  forger, 
and  it  would  require  an  expert  to  detect  his  work. 
It  has  been  ascertained  that  Carrigain  was  assistant 


72  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

clerk  for  Mr.  Dunreath  for  a  few  months  seven 
years  ago,  which  accounts  for  some  of  his  informa- 
tion regarding  the  habits  of  that  gentleman  ;  and 
as  for  the  handwriting  and  the  South  American 
details,  he  is  quite  clever  enough  to  have  worked 
those  carefully  up  in  the  last  few  weeks. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  his  career  will  hence- 
forth be  closely  watched. 

Yours  respectfully, 

J.  ALLISON, 
Pinkerton  Detective. 

By  the  way,  Alice,  I  am  having  my  portrait 
painted,  full-length,  in  a  blue  velvet  tea  gown.  I 
give  a  sitting  every  other  afternoon,  and  011  alter- 
nate days  visit  tenement  houses,  industrial  schools, 
and  Castle  Garden.  I  saw  two  thousand  filthy 
Italians  of  the  lowest  kind  land  yesterday. 

I  have  just  come  home  from  a  tour  through  the 
Mulberry  Bend  where  these  creatures  herd  together. 
I  felt  as  if  I  were  in  Naples  again.  I  thought  some 
parts  of  Boston  were  bad  enough,  but  I  never 
saw  anything  on  this  side  of  the  water  equal  to  the 
horrible  squalor  and  loathsomeness  of  these  places. 

I  mean  to  take  all  your  good  advice  about  being 
calm,  and  trying  not  to  feel  that  it  devolves  upon 
me  to  settle  all  our  social  problems  this  month.  I 
know  even  better  than  you  the  complexity  of  the 
difficulties  in  our  congested  city  life.  I  have  little 
hope  of  doing  much  for  this  generation  of  pauper- 
ism and  vice,  but  I  am  determined  tq  do  whatever 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  73 

my  money  and  good  will  can  do  for  laying  the 
foundation  of  better  things  in  the  generation  to 
come. 

I  am  going  to  begin  with  tenement  houses,  for 
there,  I  believe,  lies  the  root  of  half  of  the  trouble. 
I  suppose  my  friends  will  think  that  I  am  getting 
to  be  a  dreadful  doctrinaire.  Well,  it  can't  be 
helped.  I  was  predestined  for  that,  I  believe.  My 
consolation  is  that  you  at  least  will  not  be  bored  by 
all  my  plans  and  theories,  and  will  warn  me  if  I 
get  too  rabid.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  night  after  I  had  first  seen  Mildred  Brew- 
ster  at  aunt  Madison's  1  lay  awake  for  hours,  fever- 
ishly tossing  upon  my  pillow,  and  revolving  many 
thoughts.  I  then  made  one  resolve.  I  would  try 
to  win  the  friendship  of  this  woman  who  had 
touched  me,  who  had  moved  me  in  a  way  that  no 
one  had  ever  done  before. 

It  was  not  so  much  by  what  she  had  said,  for  I 
had  heard  the  same  or  kindred  thoughts  expressed 
by  other  lips  ;  but  I  had  never  before  met  a  woman 
so  strong,  well  poised  and  thoughtful,  a  woman  who 
united  girlish  grace  and  charm  with  all  the  persist- 
ent ardor  of  one  who,  I  was  sure,  could  not  only  die 
for  an  idea,  but,  what  is  far  rarer,  live  for  it  day  by 
day  and  year  by  year,  although  forced  to  meet  in- 
difference and  coldness  or  the  quiet  contempt  which 
cuts  to  the  quick  in  every  sensitive  nature. 

As  I  had  sat  by  the  firelight  that  night,  watching 
the  color  come  and  go  in  her  face,  —  that  changeful, 
eager  face,  —  for  the  first  time  in  a  dreary  twelve- 
month I  had  felt  my  heart  leap  up  with  warmth  and 
sympathy.  From  a  thoughtless,  happy  girlhood, 
from  the  life  of  a  gay,  pleasure-loving  young  lady, 
I  had  been  rudely  summoned  to  face  some  of  the 
bitterest  realities  of  life.  No  matter  what  they 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  75 

were.  I  am  not  writing  about  myself.  But  though 
my  life  was  still  rich  and  full  of  opportunities,  if  I 
had  but  known  it,  yet  in  my  blindness  and  selfish- 
ness it  had  seemed  utterly  wrecked  to  me.  I  had 
sunk  into  a  dull,  prosaic  routine,  and  under  a  proud 
mask  of  gay  indifference  was  trying  to  hide  a  heart 
dead  to  hope,  ambition,  and  love.  Yet,  no !  not 
dead  to  love,  though  I  had  thought  it  so ;  but  in 
the  heart-hunger  which  was  not  satisfied,  I  was  fast 
becoming  self-centred,  cold,  and  cynical. 

Like  a  dreary  desert  the  long  years  which  must  be 
lived  stretched  desolately  before  me,  and  my  only 
aim  was  to  fill  the  minutes  of  each  day  so  full  as  to 
leave  me  no  leisure  for  memory  or  thought. 

As  I  closed  my  eyes  to  sleep  that  night  my  last 
thought  was,  "  Yes,  I  ivill  know  her.  I  must  know 
her.  Oh,  if  I  could  only  be  like  her,  a  creature  of 
thought  and  purpose,  absorbed  in  some  idea,  caring 
for  something  beside  my  wretched,  silly  self !  Per- 
haps she  can  help  me.  I  will  ask  her.  I  can  trust 
Tier." 

I  had  been  deceived  in  others  ;  I  had  given  my 
utmost  trust  to  those  who  had  proved  utterly  un- 
worthy, and  in  bitterness  of  spirit  I  had  resolved 
never  to  trust  again,  never  to  leave  the  gateway 
to  my  heart  unguarded  ;  but  now,  before  I  knew  it, 
the  locks  had  yielded,  and  I  stood  with  lonely,  out- 
stretched arms,  begging  for  love  to  enter  in.  After 
all,  I  was  still  young,  and  very,  very  human. 

And  love  came.  It  came  before  my  fallen  pride 
had  found  words  to  ask  for  it.  I  had  something  to 


76  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

live  for  now.  I  had  found  a  friend.  What  ro- 
mance has  ever  been  written  that  tells  of  woman's 
love  for  woman  ?  And  yet  the  world  is  full  of  it, 
despite  the  skeptics,  and  the  Davids  and  Jonathans 
find  their  counterparts  in  thousands  of  the  unwrit- 
ten lives  of  women.  Yes,  I  had  found  not  a  new 
acquaintance,  but  a  warm  heart -friend.  Thank 
God  that  she  knew  it  and  I  knew  it  before  the 
wealth  which  came  so  fast  upon  the  beginning  of 
our  friendship  could  create  a  gulf  between  us, 
which,  once  established,  my  pride  would  never  have 
allowed  me  to  cross.  Mildred  knew,  she  always 
knew,  that  I  had  loved  her  first,  and  wanted  her 
for  herself  alone. 

I  knew,  when  the  wealth  came,  that  it  would  not 
make  her  any  the  less  my  friend,  but  I  was  only 
one  among  her  many  friends.  I  knew  that  our 
paths  would  be  different  now,  and  though  she 
would  always  think  kindly  of  me,  I  could  not  ex- 
pect to  see  and  know  her  as  I  had  fondly  dreamed 
in  the  first  days  of  our  friendship. 

"  No,  I  can  never  return  to  her  what  she  can  give, 
what  she  has  already  given  to  me  ;  my  little  life  can 
play  but-  a  small  part  in  the  large  life  that  has  come 
to  her,"  I  said  drearily,  as  I  turned  back,  after  the 
first  shock  of  surprise,  to  readjust  myself  to  the  old 
routine  of  thought  and  feeling,  which,  I  had  dared 
to  hope,  had  been  put  behind  me  forever. 

"  Ah,  well,  I  have  made  believe  be  happy  before, 
I  can  do  so  again,"  I  said  to  myself,  grimly. 

But  one  day  —  how  well  I  remember  it  —  as  I 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  77 

passed  down  Chestnut  Street  in  Salem  noting  the 
brilliant  winter  sunlight  shining  down  from  the 
cloudless  blue  through  the  black  lace  work  of 
branches  high  arching  overhead,  and  casting  fan- 
tastic shadows  on  the  brick  walls  of  the  stately  old 
mansions  on  either  side,  some  one  handed  me  a 
letter.  This  is  what  it  said :  — 

..."  You  asked  me  to  be  your  friend,  you  said 
I  could  help  you,  and  now  I  ask  you  to  be  my  friend, 
to  come  here  to  this  great  city  where  I  must  be  for 
a  time  and  help  me.  I  felt  brave  and  strong  at  first, 
I  was  not  afraid  to  be  rich,  but  I  begin  to  tremble 
now,  to  feel  strangely  weak  and  girlish  and  unpro- 
tected ;  to  feel,  in  short,  that  I  need  a  friend,  that 
I  need  what  I  think  you  can  be  to  me.  After  aunt 
Madison  had  been  with  me  only  a  few  days  she  was 
obliged  to  return  to  Boston,  leaving  me  quite  alone. 
Of  course  Madam  Grundy  says  that  I  must  have 
a  chaperon,  but  I  do  not  want  a  chaperon,  and  I 
should  be  wretched  with  a  '  companion,'  perfunc- 
torily trying  to  entertain  me,  learning  all  my  plans 
and  secrets,  and  hypocritically  assenting  to  every- 
thing I  do  and  say.  No ;  I  want  an  honest  friend, 
one  who  knows  the  world  as  you  do,  who  will  hon- 
estly speak  her  mind,  who  will  take  an  interest  in 
all  my  schemes,  and  help  to  keep  me  from  making 
blunders. 

"  I  believe  I  could  talk  more  freely,  think  more 
clearly,  and  do  better  work  if  you  were  besMe  me, 
your  honest  eyes  looking  into  mine.  For,  let  me 
tell  you  the  secret,  dear,  of  what  first  drew  me  to 


78  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

you.  You  are  most  strangely  like  the  sister  whom 
I  lost  years  ago,  and  whose  companionship,  if  she 
had  lived,  would  have  made  life  so  rich  for  me.  I 
feel  myself  so  alone ;  never  before  have  I  had  so 
keen  a  sense  of  loneliness  as  now,  here,  in  this  mod- 
ern Babylon,  with  my  old  life  and  work  abandoned, 
and  the  new  perplexing  life  which  my  wealth  has 
brought  me  just  begun.  Like  me,  you  are  alone 
in  the  world,  singularly  alone ;  so  come  and  be  to 
me  what  my  little  Ruby  would  have  been.  When 
you  speak  I  could  almost  believe  that  I  hear  her 
voice  ;  when  you  look  at  me  I  see  her  eyes  again. 
Your  face  haunts  me.  Come  to  me  and  I  shall  feel 
that  my  Ruby  is  with  me  again." 

Standing  in  the  sunshine  beneath  the  old  elms 
I  read  these  loving  words.  When  I  lifted  my 
eyes  again,  the  beautiful  quaint  old  street  was 
suddenly  transfigured.  For  months  it  had  been  to 
me  but  a  bare  prison-house  ;  now  the  sunshine  was 
real  sunshine,  the  sky  was  no  longer  leaden,  the 
world  was,  after  all,  a  beautiful  world,  and  I  was 
glad  to  live. 

So  bidding  farewell  to  quiet  Chestnut  Street  and 
the  staid,  historic  old  city,  I  went  to  the  "  modern 
Babylon  "  to  meet  Mildred,  and  the  new  life  began. 
As  the  days  went  on  I  perceived  that  she  seemed  to 
have  a  feverish  dread  that  she  should  die  with  her 
work  undone.  My  constant  anxiety  was  that  she 
would  succumb  to  the  fearful  nervous  strain  which 
her  sudden  accession  to  wealth  and  responsibility 
had  brought  upon  her.  But  nothing  seemed  to  rest 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  79 

her  or  relieve  her  mind  except  the  accomplishment 
of  some  of  the  ends  she  had  in  view,  and  as  every 
new  project  was  consummated,  she  showed  a  relief 
and  delight  that  to  the  average  society  woman 
would  have  appeared  inexplicable  and  at  the  same 
time  amusing. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Mildred  one  day  as  we 
were  strolling  through  the  park,  after  a  morning  on 
Cherry  Street ;  "  it  seems  to  me  that  most  people 
have  no  imagination.  It  cannot  be  that  all  the 
pleasant,  cultured  people  whom  one  meets  are  so 
shamefully  heartless  and  indifferent.  They  simply 
have  not  the  smallest  realization  of  what  is  going 
on  in  thjs  great  city,  or  any  thought  of  their  per- 
sonal, individual  responsibility  about  it.  They 
hear  it  all  as  a  tale  that  is  told.  They  have  always 
heard  it.  They  are  used  to  hearing  it.  From  con- 
stant hearing  it  has  become  as  meaningless  to  them 
as  the  Lord's  Prayer  has  to  most  people.  How 
many  who  dare  to  say  '  Thy  kingdom  come,  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven,'  ever  actually  mean  a  word 
that  they  say,  or  lift  a  finger  to  bring  it  about  ?  " 

We  walked  on  in  silence.  Presently  Mildred 
burst  out  again : 

"  We  are  so  apt  to  think  that  because  we  eat  our 
three  meals  a  day,  and  can  buy  our  opera  tickets 
when  we  feel  like  it,  that  all  the  world  is  doing 
well,  and  that  if  people  are  miserable  it  must  some- 
how be  their  own  fault. 

"  I  am  convinced  that  if  any  people  ever  needed 
missionary  work,  it  is  the  society  belles  and  the 


80  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

well-bred,  cultured  men  of  the  clubs,  who  know  so 
little  and  care  still  less  for  this  vast  multitude  of  the 
ignorant  and  suffering  and  fallen  here  at  their  very 
doors,  and  who  look  with  calm  indifference  on  these 
hideous  sores  upon  our  modern  life. 

"  I  promise  you,  Ruby,  after  I  get  some  of  my 
irons  out  of  the  fire,  I  mean  to  devote  myself  to  a 
crusade  to  rescue  what  George  Eliot  calls  the 
'  perishing  upper  classes.' 

"  But  ah,"  she  sighed,  "  it  needs  genius  for  that, 
and  I  have  only  money.  Oh,  I  would  give  half  my 
millions  if  I  had  the  scathing  pen  of  a  Carlyle,  or 
the  power  to  plead  for  humanity  like  Mrs.  Stowe 
or  Walter  Besant  or  Dickens ;  if  I  could  stir  the 
hearts  of  the  people  with  flaming  words  that  should 
help  to  sweep  away  the  sloth,  indifference,  and  con- 
temptible arrogance  that  makes  one  tenth  of  us 
forget  that  the  other  nine  tenths  are  our  brothers 
and  sisters ! " 

"  If  every  one  were  as  self  -  sacrificing  as  you, 
Mildred"  —  I  began;  but  she  interrupted  me  al- 
most sternly. 

"  Hush  !  never  say  that  to  me.  What  have  I 
ever  sacrificed  ?  Nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  I 
have  always  had  comforts ;  now  I  have  everything 
that  heart  can  wish.  In  giving  to  others  I  deny 
myself  nothing.  Never  dare  to  let  me  for  a  moment 
imagine  that  I  am  doing  anything  more  than  the 
simplest,  most  obvious  duty.  I  must  not  cheat  my 
conscience.  I  should  be  the  veriest  hypocrite  if  I 
allowed  myself  to  think  that  I  am  generous.  Is 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  81 

there  anything  generous  in  paying  one's  debts,  par- 
ticularly when  one  has  not  had  to  earn  the  money 
with  which  to  pay  them? 

"  I  have  always  observed,"  she  continued,  "  that 
a  little  decency  in  a  millionaire  goes  a  long  way. 
I  am  not  above  temptation,  and  I  have  already  dis- 
covered that  I  am  in  danger  of  coming  to  believe 
that  my  simple  good  will,  common  sense,  and  capac- 
ity for  sympathy  are  something  rare  and  remark- 
able. 

"  Every  one  thinks  to  please  me  by  telling  me 
so.  Do  not  let  me  deceive  myself.  I  have  a  clear 
vision  now ;  help  me  to  keep  it  and  to  be  faithful." 

Mildred's  voice  quivered,  and  she  drew  my  arm 
in  hers  while  we  walked  back  to  our  rooms  in  si- 
lence. 

"  But  the  world  is  growing  better,  Mildred. 
Every  intelligent  person  admits  that  people  are 
more  kind  and  thoughtful  than  they  used  to  be. 
No  one  who  has  read  history  could  deny  it,"  I  re- 
sumed, as  once  more  within  doors  we  sat  down  be- 
fore the  glowing  grate  to  finish  our  talk. 

"  You  and  I  believe  it,  dear,  because  we  believe 
in  God,  and  because  we  believe  that  this  is  God's 
world  and  not  the  devil's,"  Mildred  replied. 

"  Half  the  women  whom  we  saw  parading  their 
fine  toilets  this  afternoon  believe  it  too,  not  because 
they  know  enough  about  history  to  see  in  it  the 
unfolding  of  the  divine  idea,  but  because  they  like  to 
believe  it ;  because  it  makes  them  very  comfortable 
to  believe  that  by  taking  money  which  some  one 


82  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

else  has  earned  and  paying  an  annual  fee  out  of  it 
to  orphan  asylums  and  hospitals,  or  to  any  outcome 
of  our  modern  altruism,  they  are  thereby  relieved 
from  all  further  responsibility. 

"  But  here  is  an  intelligent  man,  —  an  English 
university  man,  who  has  read  history  as  well  as 
you  and  I,  and  he  says  it  is  false.  This  is  what 
he  writes,"  said  Mildred,  taking  a  thick  letter  from 
her  writing-desk.  She  held  it  unopened  for  a 
moment  and  continued  :  "  I  met  him  when  I  was 
in  England.  We  had  many  a  talk  in  our  rambles 
together  at  Kew  and  Hampstead  Heath.  He  is  a 
friend  of  William  Morris  and  like  him  a  socialist 
of  the  deepest  dye.  I  don't  half  accept  the  accu- 
racy of  all  his  statements,  but  he  is  an  honest  man 
and  a  gentleman.  I  am  glad  to  know  him,  for  I 
cannot  afford  to  be  ignorant  of  such  a  man's  views 
on  our  social  problems,  however  much  I  may  dis- 
sent from  them.  Now  let  me  read  you  his  letter. 

..."  You  ask  me  to  give  you  suggestions  for 
the  expenditure  of  your  wealth  in  benefiting  human- 
ity. This  I  must  decline  to  do,  my  dear  friend. 
If  I  had  your  wealth  I  know  what  /  should  do,  or, 
at  least,  what  I  ought  to  do,  but  /  am  a  socialist, 
and  you  are  not.  I  do  not  believe  in  laissez-faire 
as  you  do,  and  as  a  socialist  I  should  use  my 
wealth  and  influence  for  a  reorganization  of  society, 
not  for  a  patching  up  of  what  is  at  bottom  false 
and  rotten.  Things  are  getting  worse  and  worse, 
and  must  continue  to  do  so  under  the  present  so- 
cial system.  My  hope  is  that  they  will  get  so 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  83 

bad,  so  unutterably  vile,  that  the  people  will  be 
compelled  to  throw  aside  their  apathy  and  make  a 
clean  sweep.  I  take  no  part  in  any  of  the  hundred 
little  schemes  for  '  improving '  the  present  system. 
I  don't  want  to  improve  the  present  system  as  you 
do.  I  want  to  destroy  it. 

"  We  improve  things  that  are  already  fairly  good 
and  can  be  made  better,  but  we  destroy  whatever 
is  thoroughly  rotten ;  at  least  I  think  all  rational 
people  do  so.  So  far  as  the  present  order  is  at 
all  bearable,  it  is  due  to  certain  socialist  innova- 
tions, such  as  interference  with  the  capitalist,  trade 
unions,  movements  like  that  of  the  Irish  against 
the  particular  class  of  thieves  called  landlords,  etc. 

"  The  people,  the  common  people,  who  for  centu- 
ries have  silently  suffered  and  abjectly  kissed  the 
foot  that  kicked  them  and  trod  upon  them,  the 
people,  I  say,  are  beginning  to  wake  up.  They  are 
beginning  to  ask  questions,  and  they  are  questions 
which  will  have  to  be  solved  erelong,  even  if  it  take 
another  bloody  French  revolution  to  do  it.  I  see 
no  way  in  which  bloodshed  is  to  be  avoided.  I 
look  forward  confidently  to  what  will  seem  to  you 
very  like  a  reign  of  terror  ere  this  century  closes. 
Things  must  grow  worse  before  they  can  get  better. 
The  crisis  has  not  come,  but  it  is  coming.  Money 
has  done  much,  but  it  cannot  do  everything ;  the 
press  will  not  always  be  bribed  and  muzzled  as  it  is 
to-day,  nor  Levi's  and  Mulhall's  and  Giffen's  statis- 
tics be  doctored  to  suit  the  capitalists  who  pay  for 
them.  The  time  is  coming,  Miss  Brewster,  when 


84  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

the  people  will  be  heard  ;  and  they  will  be  heeded, 
for  their  words  will  be  as  short  and  sharp  as  fire 
and  dynamite  can  make  them. 

"  Do  not  think  I  am  telling  you  of  what  I  wish  to 
see.  I  am  telling  you  of  what  I  know  will  come. 

"  The  rich  are  not  voluntarily  going  to  heed  the 
bitter  cry  of  the  famishing,  except  in  one  way,  the 
only  way  they  have  ever  known,  namely,  almsgiving. 
They  will  give  alms  because  it  is  noble  to  be  a 
benefactor,  because  it  appeases  their  consciences, 
because  it  might  be  made  extremely  inconvenient 
for  them  if  they  did  not.  But  they  will  not  give 
justice.  Justice  !  they  never  learned  the  meaning 
of  the  word. 

"  But  some  day  these  landed  aristocrats  *  whose 
thin  bloods  crawl  down  from  some  robber  in  a  bor- 
der brawl,'  who  have  never  lifted  their  finger  to 
earn  a  penny  in  their  lives,  and  who  owe  all  that 
they  have  to  these  same  robber  ancestors,  —  these 
people,  I  say,  will  some  day  be  taught  the  meaning 
of  that  same  word  '  justice '  by  some  of  the  forty- 
five  millions  of  landless  people  in  our  little  island. 
I  shall  not  soon  forget  how  quickly  the  subscrip- 
tions for  the  poor  went  up  a  year  or  two  ago,  after 
the  riots.  * 

"You  have  no  conception,  Miss  Brewster,  you 
can  have  no  conception,  of  the  state  of  things  here 
at  present.  Six  millions  of  our  people  are  living 
on  the  brink  of  pauperism.  I  tell  you,  when  I  sit 
down  to  my  omelette  and  toast  in  the  morning  and 
reflect  that  there  are  two  hundred  thousand  human 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  85 

beings  within  two  miles  of  me  who  don't  know 
where  they  are  going  to  get  their  next  meal,  when 
I  read  of  the  hundreds  of  children  who  habitually 
go  to  school  without  any  breakfast,  and  who  not  un- 
frequently  faint  dead  away  over  their  books,  I  tell 
you  it  does  n't  make  my  own  breakfast  relish  any 
better. 

"  One  night  in  the  autumn,  a  year  or  two  ago,  I 
passed  through  Trafalgar  Square  at  twelve  o'clock, 
and  counted  four  hundred  and  eighty-three  home- 
less people  lying  out  in  the  chill  air  upon  the  bare 
stones.  Not  one  of  them  had  fourpence  wherewith 
to  pay  for  a  night's  lodging.  And  this,  remember, 
was  only  one  spot. 

"  There  were  many  others  where  a  similar  sight 
might  have  been  seen. 

"  *  All,'  but  you  say ;  '  these  are  the  dissolute 
and  drunken,  those  who  love  to  be  vagabonds.' 

"  I  assure  you  that  you  are  much  mistaken.  I 
have  seen  and  talked  with  thousands  of  these  people, 
and  a  large  number  of  them,  probably  a  fourth,  are 
men  from  the  country  who  can  find  no  work  there, 
and  have  found  none  here  —  honest,  hard-working 

7  O 

British  laborers.  Two  thirds  of  these  people  are  not 
vicious,  or  drunken,  but  they  are  oiffc  of  work,  they 
are  cold,  they  are  hungry,  they  are  naked,  they  are 
outcasts  in  this  Christian  (?)  land  which  has  enough 
for  all  its  children.  All  they  ask  is  work,  hard 
work,  dirty  work,  work  for  twelve  hours  a  day,  but 
that  they  cannot  get.  Why  ?  Because  our  accursed 
modern  society  is  irrational,  wasteful,  utterly  selfish. 


86  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Plenty  of  money,  plenty  of  things  worth  doing, 
plenty  of  men  who  would  thank  God  if  this  work 
could  be  given  them  to  do ;  but  what  does  our 
mad,  maladjusted  society  say  to  them?  'Emigrate! 
Clear  the  country !  Away  with  you  !  We  have 
no  use  for  you.'  Malthus  was  right,  after  all,  and 
we  must  reverse  Browning. 

'  There  's  no  God  in  heaven ; 
All 's  wrong  with  the  world.' 

"  Do  you  know  of  the  blacksmith  women  in  the 
4  black  country '  ?  I  have  recently  been  there, 
giving  some  addresses.  Oh,  the  hideousiiess  of  it 
all,  with  its  starving  people,  its  wretched,  stunted 
lives,  its  ghastly  ugliness,  its  brutalized  men  and 
women  !  One  sees  women,  who  should  be  at  home 
nursing  their  babies,  standing  on  their  feet  from 
morning  till  night  doing  the  work  of  men,  swinging 
the  hammer  amidst  grime  and  soot  and  incessant 
noise.  And  if  one  of  them  drops  at  her  post  from 
sheer  exhaustion,  there  is  a  fiendish  clanging  thing 
that  bangs  on  the  floor  and  shakes  every  bone  in 
the  poor  wretch's  body. 

"  Mr. took  Henry  George  to  see  the  sight 

when  he  was  here,  and  he  told  me  that  George 
swore  until  he*was  black  in  the  face. 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  think  I  am  a  hot-head ;  you  will 
say  these  are  exceptional  cases.  You  will  doubtless, 
try  to  do  what  all  the  good  rich  people  do  (I  ad- 
mit, you  see,  that  there  are  some  good  ones)  ;  you 
will  doubtless  try  to  help  palliate  all  these  horrors. 
If  you  were  here  you  might  build  an  old  men's 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  87 

home  for  the  poor  men  to  whom  society  has  never 
given  a  chance,  who,  through  no  fault  of  their  own, 
have  been  forced  from  their  cradle  to  live  in  stifling 
attics  or  damp,  unwholesome  hovels,  breathing 
poison,  working  their  fingers  off  to  give  their  hun- 
gry children  bread.  You  might  build  a  comfort- 
able home  where  these  decrepit,  useless  old  fellows 
might  enjoy  the  food  which  you  give  in  charity, 
wear  your  charity  uniform,  and  look  forward  to  fill- 
ing a  pauper's  grave,  as  does  one  in  nine  of  all  the 
people  who  die  in  London.  Or  you  might  build  a 
splendid  marble  palace  of  a  hospital  or  asylum,  and 
herd  together  vast  numbers  of  little  boys  or  fallen 
women  or  cripples,  and  try  in  some  big,  mechani- 
cal, institutional  way  to  do  with  your  pound  of  cure 
what  an  ounce  of  prevention  would  have  accom- 
plished a  thousand  times  better,  if  it  could  have 
come  in  the  way  of  justice,  not  charity.  Charity ! 
how  I  loathe  the  word !  It  is  the  iron  which  sears 
the  conscience  of  your  rich  Christian  as  does  noth- 
ing else.  He  thinks  to  buy  heaven  with  that  word. 

"I  tell  you,  Miss  Brewster,  these  people  want 
what  you  and  I  want.  They  want  to  preserve 
their  self-respect,  to  have  a  chance  once  a  week  to 
remember  that  they  are  human  beings  and  not 
machines.  They  want  to  be  able  in  this  Christian 
land  to  earn  an  honest  living,  to  keep  their 
daughters  from  the  streets,  and  to  keep  soul  and 
body  together  without  sacrificing  all  decency  and 
honor. 

"  How  much  delicacy  and  fine  moral  sentiment,  to 


88  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

say  nothing  of  physical  comfort,  do  you  suppose  is 
to  be  had  in  the  sixty  thousand  families  of  Lon- 
don, each  of  which  lives  in  one  room  ? 

"  Do  you  rich  people  suppose  you  are  going  to 
help  this  matter  greatly  by  leaving  money  in  your 
wills  to  build  asylums  for  the  moral  and  physical 
wrecks  for  which  our  incredible  folly  and  selfish 
indifference  is  responsible  ? 

"  Your  time  will  come  ;  sooner  or  later  you  will 
find  much  the  same  condition  of  things  in  your 
own  great  cities.  Do  not  believe  that  in  some 
mysterious  way  —  as  your  politicians  and  newspa- 
pers are  trying  to  teach  you  —  you,  in  America, 
are  different  from  us. 

"  We  are  all  in  the  same  boat,  because  the  struc- 
ture of  society  is  everywhere  the  same.  Money 
is  literally  king  and  god.  It  rules  us  everywhere, 
and  it  is  bringing  about  a  state  of  things  with 
which  the  order  imposed  by  a  German  Kaiser  is  a 
mild  and  beneficent  regime.  Indeed,  I  am  not  sure 
but  that  the  greatest  social  crash  will  come  in  the 
United  States,  unless  you  soon  come  to  recognize 
that  a  new  order  of  things  must  be  brought  about. 
You  pride  yourselves  upon  your  universal  suffrage, 
but  of  what  value  is  a  vote  to  a  poor  man  who 
must  risk  his  bread  and  butter  if  he  dares  to  vote 
contrary  to  his  employer's  wishes?  What  avails 
universal  suffrage  when  one  third  of  your  legis- 
lators can  be  bought,  and  votes  go  to  the  highest 
bidder  ?  No ;  universal  suffrage  is  totally  inade- 
quate to  save  us  under  the  existing  order  of  things. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  89 

"  I  am  a  socialist  simply  because  I  am  a  rational 
human  being,  who  knows  the  facts  ;  because  I  am 
—  I  venture  to  think  —  endowed  with  reason  and 
imagination. 

"  I  do  not  imagine,  however,  that  socialism  is 
going  to  produce  any  perfect  ideal  order.  I  simply 
see  that  the  economic  order  which  has  sustained 
the  civilized  world  for  the  past  two  or  three  hun- 
dred years  is  now  falling  in  pieces  and  must  be 
replaced  by  something  ;  that  we  are  approaching  a 
period  that  will  spell  either  socialism  or  chaos. 

"  If  unhappily  chaos  should  come,  it  will  be  due 
to  the  opponents  of  socialism,  which  is  the  only 
peaceful,  rational  method  of  social  organization 
under  the  new  economic  conditions,  due  to  machine 
industry  and  the  contraction  of  the  world  by 
means  of  the  great  scientific  discoveries  of  our 
time. 

"  If  you  want  to  see  a  fuller  statement  of  my 
views  and  the  grounds  for  them,  look  at  the  article 
on  Socialism  in  the  '  Forum '  last  month.  But  we 
socialists  spend  years  in  study,  and  we  can't  give 
the  results  adequately  in  a  brief  form.  Miss  Brew- 
ster,  I  feel  that  you  are  in  earnest,  far  more  in 
earnest  than  most  women  whom  I  have  met  from 
your  country.  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  are  per- 
plexed. I  would  not  change  places  with  you.  I 
would  far  rather  have  the  sure  conviction  of  the 
truth  as  I  see  it,  and  be  of  little  power  in  advanc- 
ing the  cause  I  believe  in,  than  to  stand  as  you  do, 
rich,  powerful,  overwhelmed  with  responsibilities, 


90  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

not  knowing  how  to  use  your  power,  and  trying  in 
vain  to  patch  up  and  prolong  the  existence  of  what 
is  destined  to  be  swept  away  ere  the  next  genera- 
tion shall  have  come  and  gone. 

"  Smile  at  my  pessimism  if  you  like ;  time  will 
verify  my  words.  If  ever  you  come  to  see  this  as 
I  do,  perhaps  then  I  may  suggest  some  things  for 
you  to  do  with  your  millions."  .  .  . 

(Miss  Brewster's  reply  to  the  foregoing  letter.) 

..."  Your  letter  has  deeply  stirred  me.  Not 
that  anything  you  say  surprises  me,  or  is  new  to 
me  ;  but  behind  the  words,  I  know,  are  the  sad, 
dreadful  facts  for  which  they  stand  ;  and,  being  a 
creature  endowed  with  some  imagination,  I  can  in 
some  measure  realize  what  that  simple  statement 
means,  when  you  say  that  six  millions  of  your  peo- 
ple are  on  the  brink  of  pauperism. 

"  Good  God !  what  endless  heartaches,  what  phys- 
ical misery,  what  degradation  of  mind  and  soul  is 
implied  in  those  few  words !  I  am  glad  you  do  not 
envy  me  my  wealth.  I  am  beginning  to  think  that 
I  am  not  so  much  to  be  envied  as  I  thought  at 
first  I  might  be.  I  have  been  amazed,  in  these 
last  few  weeks,  to  learn  from  numberless  sources 
of  the  chagrin,  disappointment,  and  perplexity  of 
many  rich  men  and  women  who  have  thought  to 
benefit  the  world  by  the  '  charity  '  which  you  so 
despise.  They  have  put  up  great  institutions,  only 
to  find  that  in  many  cases  it  was  the  least  helpful 
thing  that  they  could  do  ;  that  a  large  part  of  the 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  91 

money  was  spent  on  taxes,  insurance,  agents,  ser- 
vants, go-betweens ;  that,  after  all,  when  they  had 
gathered  their  orphans  or  cripples  or  old  women 
together,  they  had  brought  about  an  utterly  cheer- 
less, artificial  state  of  things,  and  have  proved  that 
for  the  average  human  being  with  natural  human 
instincts  the  poorest  home  is  often  more  preferable 
than  the  most  palatial  asylum. 

"  So,  set  your  heart  at  rest.  I  am  not  going  to 
spend  my  money  in  that  way.  Whatever  may  be 
the  political  and  social  changes  which  will  take 
place  in  the  next  twenty  years,  —  and  doubtless 
they  will  be  many  and  great,  —  of  one  thing  I  am 
sure,  no  new  .condition  of  things  can  be  made  per- 
manent or  harmonious  except  by  means  of  two 
things.  The  first  of  these  is  moral  character. 
The  second  is  intellectual  insight  into  cause  and 
effect  and  relation.  In  any  condition  of  things  we 
must  have  righteousness,  and  we  must  have  trained 
minds.  You  will  doubtless  agree  with  me  that 
selfishness  and  ignorance  are  the  two  monster 
dragons  that  are  threatening  now,  as  they  always 
have  done,  to  devour  us,  only  we  should  differ  as 
to  the  way  in  which  they  are  to  be  slain.  You 
have  a  definite  theory  as  to  how  this  is  to  be  done, 
which  I  do  not  yet  thoroughly  understand.  I  see 
your  goal,  but  I  do  not  understand  how  you  pro- 
pose to  reach  it  without  doing  away  with  individ- 
uality and  crushing  out  some  of  the  deepest  human 
instincts.  True,  many  of  our  instincts  are  brutish. 
There  is  still  the  tiger  and  the  ape  within  us, 


92  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

which,  as  John  Fiske  says,  is  our  inheritance  of 
'original  sin'  from  our  brute  ancestors.  I  agree 
with  you  that  such  instincts  must  be  eliminated, 
but  how?  By  dynamite,  fear,  revolution,  legisla- 
tion? 

"  You  are  right :  we  may  make  the  selfish  fear, 
and  that  is  often  a  very  salutary  thing  to  do  if 
nothing  better  can  be  done.  A  business  man  was 
telling  me  only  the  other  day  of  the  different  re- 
lations between  employers  and  employees  in  Fall 
River  and  other  manufacturing  places  since  the 
strikes  of  the  last  few  years. 

"  But,  after  all,  though  fear  and  legislation  can 
do  something  to  convert  a  brutal  man  into  a  decent 
man  for  a  time,  there  must  needs  be  something 
else,  —  the  gospel  of  love  and  humanity,  which  of 
his  own  free  will  he  must  choose  to  accept  and 
apply  understandingly. 

"  I  shall  not  attempt  to  palliate  any  of  the  exist- 
ing evils,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  shall  I  attempt 
to  undermine  our  present  social  and  political  sys- 
tem even  if  I  could.  Certainly  I  shall  not  try  to 
do  this  until  I  am  very  certain  that  I  see  the  right 
method  of  substituting  something  better  in  its 
place. 

"  By  the  way,  have  you  read  Bellamy's  '  Looking 
Backward '  ?  It  is  very  suggestive,  and  National- 
ization of  Industries  is  getting  to  be  more  of  a 
fad  in  Boston  than  Esoteric  Buddhism  or  Chris- 
tian Science.  Bellamy  tells  us  what  we  must  try 
to  attain;  but,  alas!  he  gives  little  hint  of  what 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.  93 

must  be  our  first  step  toward  the  attainment. 
This  is  the  problem  which  you  and  I  must  help  our 
generation  to  solve. 

"  Go  on  with  your  socialistic  schemes.  I  believe 
they  contain  a  half  truth ;  at  all  events,  to  talk 
about  them  as  you  do  will  make  people  think,  for 
you  speak  from  the  deepest  conviction.  Out  of  all 
this  sturm  und  drang  period  must  surely  come 
clear  insight  and  right  action :  at  least  I  am  opti- 
mist enough  to  hope  so ;  and  my  work  shall  be  to 
think  out  the  solution,  as  far  as  I  may,  but  at  all 
events  to  do  what  in  me  lies  to  set  people  to  think- 
ing ;  to  make  life  a  little  sweeter  and  better ;  to 
infuse  into  it  more  hope  for  a  few  of  my  genera- 
tion, and  thus  help  to  make  their  children  ready 
for  the  new  order  of  things  if  it  comes. 

"  In  this  great  city  money  flows  like  water.  There 
are  streets  where,  for  a  mile,  every  house  must  be 
the  home  of  a  millionaire,  for  no  one  else  could 
afford  to  live  in  such  a  one.  Yet,  within  two 
miles  of  these  palaces  there  is  the  direst  want,  the 
most  frightful  squalor,  and  the  problem  of  New 
York  is  fast  getting  to  be  like  the  problem  of  Lon- 
don. 

"Most  of  our  women  dabble  a  little  in  charity 
now  and  then.  They  get  up  charity  balls  and 
fairs  to  satisfy  their  consciences  in  that  way,  and 
flatter  themselves  when  they  spend  their  money 
lavishly  in  luxuries  for  their  own  pleasure  that 
they  are  giving  employment  to  the  poor  and  do- 
ing God  service.  They  will  sometimes  give  their 


94  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

money ;  they  will  sometimes  give  a  little  time  to 
cut  out  garments  at  a  sewing  circle ;  but  not  one 
in  five  hundred  will  give  her  personal  service  even 
for  a  half  day  a  week  in  coming  face  to  face  with 
those  who  need  the  help  of  her  intelligence  and  her 
human  sympathy. 

"  Of  this  I  am  convinced :  men  are  never  to  be 
uplifted  permanently,  except  by  human  sympathy, 
intelligently  directed  and  expressed,  and  by  per- 
sonal contact  with  those  who  do  not  come  to  them 
to  dole  out  '  charity,'  but  who  come  as  brothers 
to  lend  them  a  helping  hand. 

"  There  are  a  few  who  begin  the  work ;  there  are 
fewer  still  who  continue  it.  The  other  day  a  gen- 
tleman, who  is  giving  his  life  to  the  rescuing  of 
street  children,  told  me  of  the  faintheartedness  of 
his  voluntary  helpers,  who  come  a  half  dozen  Sun- 
days to  his  mission,  but  who  rarely  come  longer 
when  they  discover  that,  to  use  his  own  coarse  but 
forcible  words,  which  you  will  pardon  my  quoting 
verbatim,  '  they  must  be  willing  to  pick  lice  off 
those  children  for  Christ's  sake.'  .  .  . 

"  Well,  dear  friend,  we  are  both  working  in  very 
different  ways.  You  would  tear  down ;  I  would 
build  up,  or  'patch  up,'  as  you  say.  Which  of 
us  is  the  wiser,  time  will  tell ;  but  however  differ- 
ently we  may  labor,  it  is  for  the  same  end  after  all 
that  we  are  striving,  —  '  putting  society  on  a  just 
and  rational  basis,'  as  you  would  phrase  it,  or 
bringing  God's  kingdom  upon  earth,  as  the  Christ 
called  it,  —  and  so  I  bid  you  God-speed."  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ONE  morning  in  April  we  had  risen  from  a  lei- 
surely, late  breakfast,  a  luxury  which,  with  our  press 
of  work,  we  did  not  often  allow  ourselves,  except 
when,  as  in  this  case,  we  had  been  up  late  the  pre- 
vious night. 

He*lene  brought  in  the  usual  bulky  bag  of  mail 
matter,  and  we  settled  ourselves  to  our  morning's 
task,  I  taking  charge  of  all  letters  that  were  not  of 
a  private  nature,  and  consigning  to  the  waste  bas- 
ket innumerable  quires  of  paper  devoted  to  more 
or  less  roundabout  appeals  for  aid,  and  lectures 
and  advice  ad  libitum. 

Occasionally  we  stopped  to  read  aloud  to  each 
other  bits  of  the  letters,  and  discuss  or  laugh  over 
their  contents.  This  morning  I  remember  I  was 
examining  a  document  in  regard  to  a  prison  reform 
society,  containing  a  request  that  Mildred  would 
allow  her  name  to  be  used  as  vice-president  of  it, 
when  an  exclamation  from  her  startled  me  into 
dropping  the  letter  and  turning  round. 

"  Well,  what  now  ?  "  I  asked,  in  response  to  the 
intimation  from  the  puckered  forehead  and  pursed- 
up  lips  that  something  was  the  matter.  "  Another 
love-sick  poet  ?  or  is  it  a  count  this  time  ?  It  must 
be  time  for  another  suitor;  you  haven't  had  an 
offer  of  marriage  for  at  least  ten  days,  have  you  ?  " 


96  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  Indeed,  Ruby,  this  is  no  joke,  I  assure  you," 
replied  Mildred,  gazing  blankly  at  the  letter  in  her 
hand.  "  It  is  from  General  Lawrence." 

"  What !  "  I  exclaimed  ;  "  that  distinguished- 
looking  man  who  has  written  all  those  books  upon 
political  economy?  He  talked  with  me  in  such 
an  entertaining  way  the  other  night  and  told  the 
funniest  stories.  I  was  afraid  he  would  be  awfully 
erudite  and  dry,  but  he  was  n't  at  all." 

"  No ;  he  can  be  very  entertaining,"  sighed  Mil- 
dred. "I  have  met  him  several  tunes  since  we 
have  been  in  New  York.  He  was  a  classmate  of 
papa's  at  Yale  and  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  war. 
Judge  Matthews  said  he  thought  him  one  of  the 
clearest  and  ablest  thinkers  in  the  country,  and  it 
seenis  that  years  ago  he  had  achieved  a  European 
reputation." 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  I  have  seen  his  articles  in  the 
'  Fortnightly  '  and  '  Edinburgh  '  reviews,  and  he 
spoke  the  other  night  as  if  he  were  well  acquainted 
with  Browning  and  Froude  and  half  of  the  literary 
people  of  England." 

"  His  wife  wore  fine  sapphires,  and  I  overheard 
her  say  that  she  was  devoted  to  German  opera," 
added  Mildred,  musingly. 

"  Well,  what  of  it  ?  "  I  asked,  much  mystified  at 
this  apparently  irrelevant  remark. 

"  Why,  only  this,"  answered  Mildred,  dryly ; 
"  this  entertaining  society  man,  this  famous  politi- 
cal economist,  writes  to  me  this  morning  piteously 
begging  for  an  immediate  loan  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars to  keep  the  sheriff  out  of  his  house." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  97 

"  Heavens !  Mildred.  Why,  I  supposed  he  had 
enough  money  to  live  on,"  I  cried,  aghast.  "  He 
lives  in  one  of  those  pretty  two-thousand-a-year 
apartments  up  by  the  park,  does  he  not?  I  have 
heard  people  say  what  a  charming  little  home  they 
had,  and  everything  in  such  good  taste.  Pray  how 
have  they  managed  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  in  the  simplest  way  in  the  world  —  on 
other  people's  money,"  replied  Mildred,  with  a 
shade  of  scorn  in  her  tone.  "  The  fact  is,  as  all  his 
friends  know,  he  is  as  poor  as  a  church-mouse.  But 
he  has  always  been  accustomed  to  living  well,  and 
he  has  not  the  faintest  idea  of  household  economy 
in  spite  of  his  fine  theories  of  political  economy. 
He  is  generous  and  warm-hearted,  and  helped  papa 
with  a  loan  when  he  was  in  college  trying  to  live 
on  three  hundred  a  year,  and  I  cannot  forget  a 
kindness  like  that.  Of  course,  it  would  be  the  ea- 
siest thing  in  the  world  for  me  to  give  him  the  ten 
thousand  outright.  A  loan  would  be  a  gift  for 
that  matter,  for  he  could  never  repay  it,  as  his  in- 
come is  only  three  thousand  a  year,  I  fancy,  and  his 
expenses  are  at  least  one  or  two  thousand  more." 

"Of  course  his  wife  must  be  the  cause  of  all 
this,"  I  remarked.  "  Any  woman  who  will  spend 
borrowed  money  on  sapphires  "  — 

"  Oh,  they  were  probably  heirlooms ;  she  came  of 
a  rich  family,"  interrupted  Mildred. 

"  No  matter,"  I  continued ;  "  any  woman  who 
will  wear  sapphires  and  has  the  assurance  to  go  to 
a  dinner  party  with  its  attendant  expenses  of  dress, 


98  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

carriage,  et  cetera,  when  she  cannot  pay  her  debts 
and  expects  at  any  minute  to  be  sold  out  of  house 
and  home,  is  a  woman  who  deserves  to  have  a 
pretty  sharp  lesson  taught  her,  and  I  hope  you  will 
do  it.  Now,  don't  let  those  blue  eyes  of  his  and 
that  majestic  manner  overawe  you  and  cajole  you 
into  feeling  that  you  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  be  paid  by  getting  him  out  of  this  emergency ; 
for  it  will  serve  only  to  let  him  teach  his  children 
that  the  highroad  to  comfort  and  ease  is  to  go 
on  the  principle  that  the  public  owes  a  genius  a 
living." 

"  No,  I  do  not  mean  to  do  that,"  replied  Mildred, 
thoughtfully ;  "  but  I  cannot  let  this  disgrace  come 
to  them  when  I  can  help  it  as  well  as  not,  and  it  is 
a  rather  awkward  thing  for  me  to  dictate  conditions 
to  a  man  who  is  old  enough  to  be  my  father,  one 
who  has  risked  his  life  on  many  a  battlefield,  and  is 
a  genius  and  a  famous  scholar.  I  cannot  lay  the 
blame  on  his  wife.  She  adores  him,  and  he  thinks 
her  failures  are  better  than  other  people's  successes. 
The  whole  family  in  fact  forms  the  most  genuine 
mutual  admiration  society.  They  seem  utterly  ob- 
livious of  the  fact  that  in  letting  their  milkman's 
bill  go  unpaid,  and  in  giving  their  children  money 
to  go  riding  in  the  goat  carriage  in  the  park,  they 
are  doing  anything  dishonorable. 

"  Every  one  who  knows  them  says  they  have  no 
more  wisdom  in  bringing  up  their  children  than 
two  babies.  They  let  them  eat  and  drink  what 
they  like,  sit  up  as  late  as  they  like,  and  care  more 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  99 

about  their  speaking  French  and  German  well  than 
about  their  knowing  the  multiplication  table,  or 
anything  practical. 

"  If  they  were  not  such  devout  churchpeople,  one 
would  not  be  so  amazed  at  this  extravagance,"  ejac- 
ulated Mildred  warmly,  "  though  perhaps  genius 
may  be  pardoned  for  lacking  common  sense  and 
common  honesty,"  she  added,  grimly. 

Then  rising,  she  continued,  as  she  put  on  her  hat 
and  gloves :  "  I  know  what  I  shall  do.  I  have  a 
scheme  for  helping  him  in  a  way  that  will  be  some- 
thing more  than  merely  giving^him  immediate  ma- 
terial aid.  I  know  a  dear  old  lady  who  used  to  be 
papa's  friend  and  his,  and  I  will  go  at  once  to  see 
her.  She  can  tell  me  some  facts  that  I  need  to 
know." 

Two  hours  later,  she  had  but  just  returned  when 
the  General  called. 

He  looked  nervous  and  flushed,  and  I  never  saw 
Mildred  seem  more  embarrassed.  In  an  adjoining 
room  I  awaited  with  some  impatience  the  close  of 
the  interview. 

At  last  she  came  into  my  room,  and  throwing 
herself  down  on  the  white  bear-skin  rug  before  the 
grate,  she  exclaimed,  with  a  little  groan,  "  There, 
I  've  done  it,  though  it  was  the  most  painful  thing 
I  ever  did  in  my  life.  I  felt  that  I  must  seem  so 
mean  and  arrogant  to  make  myself  the  arbiter  of 
the  fate  of  a  man  like  him,  and  to  dictate  terms 
which  must  have  been  horribly  humiliating.  Think 
of  my  setting  myself  up  to  instruct  a  man  who  has 


100         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

deserved  the  honor  of  the  friendship  of  men  like 
Mazzini  and  Von  Moltke  and  Carlyle  and  Sunnier." 

"  How  did  you  begin  ?  "  I  queried,  realizing  for 
the  first  time  what  a  difficult  thing  this  must  have 
been  to  a  generous-hearted  girl  like  Mildred. 

"  Oh,"  she  said,  "  I  began  by  reminding  him  of 
his  kindness  to  papa,  and  assuring  him  that  I  was 
ready  and  glad  to  be  of  assistance  to  him.  He 
looked  so  grateful  that  I  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  screw  up  my  courage  to  continue.  But,  after 
stammering  over  it  a  minute,  I  put  on  a  bold  front 
and  went  on  to  say  that  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  make 
my  gift,  for  it  was  to  be  a  gift,  not  a  loan,  upon 
certain  stringent  conditions  in  order  that  similar 
circumstances  might  not  occur  again.  I  would 
state  what  they  were,  and  then  he  might  consult 
with  his  family  and  let  me  know  whether  he  would 
accept  them  or  not. 

"  He  replied  sadly,  '  I  am  in  your  hands,  Miss 
Brewster.  There  is  no  question  of  my  volition  in 
the  matter.' 

"  It  almost  brought  the  tears  to  my  eyes,  Ruby, 
for  he  did  look  so  grand  and  noble,  and  it  was  so 
pathetic  to  think  of  a  man  of  his  powers  forced 
to  humble  himself  before  a  girl  like  me.  He  said 
that  for  years  this  shadow  of  debt  had  been  over 
him,  making  life  a  purgatory  for  him,  which  is  true 
enough.  I  hear  that  he  has  long  been  borrowing 
from  every  one  of  his  own  and  his  wife's  relatives, 
and  has  mortgaged  everything  they  own,  even  her 
jewels.  One  wonders  what  he  can  be  made  of 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          101 

to  have  endured  such  shame  and  yet  to  have 
counted  it  less  shame  than  to  live  in  a  small,  eco- 
nomical way  within  his  income.  But  he  spoke  of 
his  debts  with  all  the  ingenuousness  of  a  child,- 
just  as  though  they  were  an  affliction  sent  by  Prov- 
idence, for  which  he  was  in  no  wise  responsible, 
and  I  really  think  that  he  felt  them  so. 

" '  My  first  condition,'  I  said,  '  is  that  you  shall 
give  me  a  full  and  accurate  statement  of  your  finan- 
cial affairs,  including  old  debts  which  are  not  press- 
ing, insurance,  mortgages,  and  everything  of  a 
money  nature.' 

"  Secondly,  I  asked  that  none  of  his  children 
should  receive  private  lessons  in  dancing,  French, 
or  anything  else,  which  were  not  paid  for  in  full 
in  advance.  I  could  see  that  this  was  a  very  bitter 
thing  for  the  General.  One  of  his  daughters  is 
a  girl  of  artistic  talent,  and  he  has  been  giving  her 
expensive  lessons  in  painting,  for  which,  as  I  knew, 
he  has  never  paid. 

"I  asked  General  Lawrence  pretty  pointedly," 
continued  Mildred,  "  if,  so  long  as  a  fair  education 
could  be  had  in  our  schools  without  cost,  he  felt 
justified  in  taking  other  people's  money  to  give  his 
children  accomplishments." 

"  And  pray  what  did  he  say  to  that  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Why,  nothing,"  answered  Mildred.  "  He 
looked  absolutely  dazed,  as  if  it  were  a  totally  new 
idea.  In  fact,  I  do  not  think  that  it  had  occurred 
to  him  that  children  could  be  brought  up  respecta- 
bly without  knowing  French  and  dancing. 


102          MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

"I  wanted  to  tell  him,"  said  Mildred,  "that  I 
counted  the  best  part  of  my  education  to  be  the 
years  that  I  spent  studying  geography  and  arithmetic 
with  both  boys  and  girls,  with  white  and  black, 
with  rich  and  poor,  with  Protestants,  Catholics,  and 
Jews,  in  a  public  school,  where  success  was  gauged 
by  individual  merit  alone,  and  where  we  little 
bigots  and  partisans  learned  to  be  tolerant  and  re- 
spectful toward  one  another.  One  of  the  most  sal- 
utary things  I  ever  learned  was  that  the  son  of  a 
ragpicker,  in  my  class,  was  a  better  mathematician 
than  I,  and  that  a  mulatto  girl  across  the  aisle  usu- 
ally outranked  me. 

"  I  told  General  Lawrence  it  was  my  firm  convic- 
tion that  his  children  would  be  far  more  benefited 
by  a  few  years'  study  of  ordinary  English  branches 
with  ordinary  children  than  by  anything  else  he 
could  do  for  them  educationally,  for  I  feared  that 
they  were  growing  up  to  know  only  one  side  of  life 
and  only  one  class  of  people,  and  their  knowledge 
and  sympathies  would  be  narrow.  He  nodded  as- 
sent, and  I  went  on. 

"  My  third  condition  was,  that  he  and  his  wife 
should  sign  a  paper  promising  for  the  next  three 
years  to  allow  no  debts  to  any  one  but  me,  or  some 
agent  authorized  by  me,  to  run  beyond  a  month's 
time.  Any  failure  to  meet  such  debts  promptly 
must  be  immediately  reported  to  me  for  settlement, 
for  which  I  should  take  a  mortgage  on  his  furni- 
ture and  personal  effects. 

"  I  told  him  that  my  intention  was  not  merely  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          103 

help  his  immediate  and  pressing  need,  but  to  en- 
tirely free  him  from  debt.  Nevertheless,  I  was  un- 
willing to  undertake  this,  unless  he  were  ready  to 
rigidly  insist  upon  living  within  his  income,  thus 
teaching  his  children  some  lessons  of  self-sacrifice 
and  thrift.  I  told  him  plainly  that  I  was  sure  a 
little  different  management  would  reduce  his  doc- 
tor's bills,  for  I  had  reason  to  think  that  his  chil- 
dren's constant  ailing  was  due  to  the  foolish  way  in 
which  they  had  been  indulged.  He  looked  amazed 
and  annoyed  at  this,  and  begged  me  to  specify. 

"  I  replied,  '  Mrs.  Lawrence  herself  told  me  of 
three  parties  which  her  eight-year-old  Gladys  at- 
tended within  a  single  week,  and  she  afterwards 
remarked  incidentally  that  the  child  had  a  ten- 
dency to  insomnia  and  dyspepsia  and  was  taking 
medicine  all  the  time.  Moreover,  your  older 
daughter  privately  informed  me  that  she  had  be- 
gun a  diet  of  vinegar  and  slate  -  pencils  to  reduce 
her  plumpness. 

" '  No,'  I  said,  '  I  shall  not  presume  to  dictate 
to  you  as  to  the  methods  which  you  are  to  pursue 
with  your  children.  But  I  have  seen  them  several 
times  and  have  an  interest  in  them,  and  I  believe 
that  their  character  will  receive  a  permanent  injury 
from  the  irregular  life  which  they  are  living  and 
the  false  notions  they  have  imbibed  in  regard  to 
keeping  up  a  style  which  they  cannot  afford.  So 
for  their  sake,  and  in  addition  to  paying  all  your 
debts,  I  am  willing  to  send  the  oldest  to  good  board- 
ing-schools where  simple  diet,  regular  hours,  and 


104         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

systematic  work  can  help  to  make  of  them  a 
stronger  man  and  woman  than  there  is  prospect  of 
their  becoming  now.' 

"  I  could  see  that  it  was  terribly  galling  for  him 
to  have  me  sit  there  and  arraign  him,  as  it  were, 
for  his  conduct ;  but  he  clenched  his  teeth,  kept  si- 
lence, and  heard  me  to  the  end.  Then  he  cleared 
his  throat,  and  after  a  moment  said,  hoarsely,  with- 
out looking  up : 

" '  Miss  Brewster,  you  are  very  kind.  With  your 
permission  I  will  call  on  you  to-morrow  at  eleven.'  " 

The  next  morning,  a  half  hour  after  the  time  ap- 
pointed, General  Lawrence  and  his  wife  appeared, 
both  looking  as  if  they  had  passed  a  restless  night. 
Mrs.  Lawrence,  clad  in  an  elegant  gown,  quite  out- 
shone Mildred,  who  wore  a  quiet  street  costume  of 
gray  serge.  That  costly  dress  and  the  queenly  air 
of  its  owner  nettled  me. 

"  Mildred,"  I  whispered,  as  she  came  back  for  a 
pencil,  "  do  think  twice  before  you  squander  your 
thousands  on  saving  those  people  from  the  just 
penalty  of  their  folly  and  sin." 

"  I  am  not  thinking  of  them  so  much  as  of 
their  children,"  said  she  gravely ;  "  and  it  is  far 
more  folly  than  sin.  Mrs.  Lawrence  is  a  Southern 
woman,  sweet-tempered  and  charming,  but  despis- 
ing little  economies  as  petty  Yankee  meanness, 
and  she  will  have  to  submit  to  receiving  instruction 
from  me  on  that  score,  or  else  I  shall  let  the  sheriff 
come." 

But  Mildred  certainly  did  seem  somewhat  discon- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         105 

certed  when  she  learned  that  the  ten-thousand-dol- 
lar loan  which  had  been  asked  for  was  less  than  half 
of  General  Lawrence's  indebtedness.  He  confessed, 
she  told  me  afterward,  that  his  expenses  last  year 
were  over  five  thousand  dollars,  while  his  receipts 
from  his  literary  work,  his  sole  income,  were  only 
twenty-eight  hundred.  "  We  were  obliged,  actually 
obliged,  to  go  into  society  more  or  less  on  account 
of  the  General's  position,"  said  his  wife,  apologeti- 
cally. "  General  Lawrence  is  continually  meeting 
important  people  in  the  literary  and  political  world, 
and  can't  you  see,  my  dear  Miss  Brewster,  how  es- 
sential this  is  for  his  writing  ?  And,  of  course,  if 
we  are  always  well  entertained  ourselves,  we  have 
to  treat  people  decently  when  they  come  to  see  us. 
I  have  been  my  own  seamstress,  and  have  econo- 
mized in  every  way,  but  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
for  us  to  live  on  three  thousand  a  year.  My  hus- 
band's writings  would  bring  us  three  times  that  if 
he  could  get  what  he  deserves.  But  it  is  always  so 
with  me  a  of  genius;  their  own  generation  never  ap- 
preciates them,"  she  added  bitterly,  while  her  hus- 
band fidgeted  and  took  a  turn  around  the  room. 

"  Well,  and  what  did  you  say  to  such  rubbish  as 
that  ?  "  I  inquired  of  Mildred. 

"  I  said,"  answered  she,  "  that  Emerson  and 
many  others  had  found  '  plain  living  and  high 
thinking'  quite  compatible,  and  that  I  thought  a 
residence  in  some  suburban  town  would  obviate 
the  burdens  of  society,  and  allow  them  to  live  within 
their  income.  At  all  events,"  I  said,  "  although  I 


106        MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

stood  ready  to  offer,  as  a  gift,  their  entire  immunity 
from  debt,  this  could  not  be  done  except  by  a  strict 
construction  of  the  conditions  which  I  had  laid 
down.  However,  I  offered  General  Lawrence  an 
opportunity  to  lay  up  a  little  money,  telling  him 
that  I  had  various  projects  in  view,  and  should  need 
the  assistance  of  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  in  car- 
rying out  many  of  them.  I  told  him  that  I  would 
put  to  his  credit  in  the  bank  ten  dollars  for  every 
newspaper  column  which  he  would  write  on  sub- 
jects that  I  should  give  him :  at  the  end  of  three 
years  this  amount  should  be  turned  over  to  him, 
and  meanwhile  he  must  '  cut  his  coat  according  to 
his  cloth,'  and  manage  in  some  way  to  live  strictly 
within  his  income." 

"  And  what  did  Madam  say  to  that  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh,  her  pride  kept  the  tears  back ;  they  both 
said  nothing  and  signed  the  papers  ;  but  I  know 
that  she  must  think  me  a  hateful,  close-fisted  Yan- 
kee, with  no  conception  of  granting  a  favor  gra- 
ciously and  without  cruelly  wounding  the  recip- 
ient's feelings." 

We  saw  very  little  of  the  Lawrences  after  this. 
It  was  understood  that  little  Gladys's  health  re- 
quired country  air,  and  a  cottage  out  of  town  was 
engaged.  The  children  were  not  sent  to  school,  but 
kept  up  French  and  read  history  and  literature  at 
home  with  their  mamma,  and  although  they  would 
have  found  it  difficult  to  bound  Missouri  or  do  an 
example  in  long  division,  they  could  talk  glibly  of 
Louis  XL  and  the  Cid. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          107 

Whether  a  beneficial  reform  was  wrought  in  the 
domestic  economy  of  the  family,  I  never  knew,  and 
I  think  Mildred  had  her  doubts,  though  she  was 
not  called  upon  to  pay  any  more  debts. 

We  heard  incidentally  that  the  General's  cigar 
bills  and  physician's  fees  had  not  decreased,  and 
that  his  last  work  on  the  Philosophy  of  the  Greek 
Tragedians  had  received  unqualified  praise  from 
Professor  Curtius. 

This  little  episode  was  only  one  of  the  many 
which  marked  our  brief  stay  in  New  York,  and 
gave  me  an  opportunity  to  study  the  many-sided 
character  of  my  friend.  She  had  some  aristocratic 
acquaintances  in  the  city  who  were  only  too  happy 
to  lionize  her,  and  she  was  soon  overwhelmed  with 
invitations  to  lunch  parties,  theatre  parties,  et 
cetera,  in  which  I  was  also  kindly  included. 

"  You  must  go,  dear  ;  I  want  some  one  to  back 
me  up,"  she  used  to  say  at  first.  "  I  have  courage 
enough  to  go  into  a  pulpit  and  preach  a  sermon,  or 
to  go  down  into  the  slums  alone,  or  to  do  a  thou- 
sand things  which  would  make  most  girls  horrified, 
but  I  fairly  shake  in  my  shoes  when  I  have  to  be 
the  target  of  the  eyes  of  all  these  society  women 
and  dollar-hunters.  I  know  they  would  not  care  a 
jot  for  me  were  it  not  for  my  money,  and  I  cannot 
help  thinking  of  it  all  the  time.  I  feel  suspicious 
of  every  one  in  a  way  that  makes  me  blush. 

"  I  can't  talk  society  small  talk ;  I  never  could. 
I  wonder  how  people  manage  to  do  it  and  wax  so 
eloquent  over  nothing,"  she  once  said.  *'  But  I  sup- 


108         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

pose  I  must  try  to  learn  how,"  she  added,  with  a 
comical  wry  face. 

"  Why  try  to  learn,  why  not  act  your  natural 
self  ?  "  I  protested,  for  I  had  quietly  observed  that 
Mildred's  simple  and  unaffected  bearing  and  trans- 
parent sincerity  had  proved  far  more  attractive 
in  society  than  the  persiflage  and  repartee  of  more 
brilliant  women,  though  I  knew  that  she  herself 
felt  conscious  of  shyness  and  a  sense  that  she  was 
out  of  her  proper  element. 

"  Why  not  act  my  natural  self  ?  "  repeated  Mil- 
dred. "  Because,  my  dear,  I  like  to  be  liked,  and 
my  natural,  unconventional  self  would  lead  me  to 
talk  of  all  sorts  of  things  which  society  would  not 
like.  If  I  talked  as  much  as  I  wished  to  on  the 
subjects  that  interest  me  most,  I  should  be  voted  a 
Boston  bore,  a  woman  with  a  mission,  with  hobbies, 
with  theories,  —  altogether  a  very  unlikable  person 
aside  from  my  ducats." 

"  Nonsense,  Mildred ! "  I  cried.  "  I  have  seen  a 
hundred  times  as  much  of  society  as  you  have,  and 
I  can  say  that  the  greatest  boon  in  the  way  of  nov- 
elty would  be  a  little  bit  of  the  independence  and 
freshness  so  natural  to  you.  You  are  a  woman  to 
whom  real  things  mean  something.  You  are  ear- 
nest. You  like  to  talk  about  earnest  things,  and 
why  should  you  feel  obliged  to  condescend  to  the 
level  of  society  small  talk  and  meaningless  compli- 
ments ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  propose  to  be  a  hypocrite,"  said 
Mildred,  with  a  little  amused  laugh,  at  my  unaccus- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         109 

tomed  vehemence  in  this  line  of  thought.  She  sat 
for  a  minute  absently  picking  in  pieces  the  Jacque- 
minot rose  in  her  corsage  ;  then  she  said,  "  But  you 
know,  Ruby,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  being  a  doc- 
trinaire and  a  dull  dogmatist,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  being  full  of  tact  and  sympathy  and  wit, 
accomplishing  the  best  results  in  an  indirect  way, 
when  no  amount  of  direct  preaching  could  do  it. 
A  woman  of  character  can  make  even  her  small 
talk  a  tremendous  power  if  she  only  knows  how  to 
go  to  work. 

"  I  want  to  be  a  power,  I  honestly  confess  that, 
but  I  have  little  worldly  wisdom,  and  I  have  much 
to  learn.  I  have  lived  in  a  world  of  books  and 
ideas,  and  now  I  am  thrown  into  this  perplexing, 
brilliant,  kaleidoscopic  world  of  society,  and  I  feel 
as  unsophisticated  as  a  girl  of  sixteen." 

"But  there  is  plenty  of  homage  given  you,"  I 
remarked.  "  You  were  the  envy  of  every  woman 

in  the  room  the  other  night  when  Lord  H took 

you  out  to  dinner." 

"  Homage  to  me  ?  Homage  to  my  money,  you 
ought  to  say,"  replied  Mildred,  with  a  touch  of  bit- 
terness, as  she  shook  the  rose-leaves  from  her  lap 
into  the  waste  -  basket.  "  I  wore  opals  and  satin, 
and  am,  as  the  papers  say,  a  *  great  catch ; '  but 
how  much  attention  do  you  suppose  my  lord  would 
have  paid  me  six  months  ago  if  he  had  met  me 
running  down  Joy  Street  with  my  bag  of  books, 
to  take  a  Cambridge  car  ?  " 

"  But  plenty  of  women  are  admired  who  are  not 
rich,"  I  remarked  ;  "  it  does  n't  follow  "  — 


110          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  No,"  said  Mildred,  breaking  in  impetuously ; 
"  but  women  are  not  admired  for  their  real  worth. 
It  always  used  to  madden  me  to  see  how  the  nice, 
sensible  girls,  who  really  had  original  ideas  and 
could  say  something  worth  saying,  were  always  left 
to  be  the  wall-flowers. 

"  Nine  men  out  of  ten  actually  like  a  little,  help- 
less doll  of  a  creature  who  can  talk  by  the  hour 
and  say  nothing ;  and  they  don't  care  for  a  brave, 
self -helpful  girl  who  has  any  independence  of  spirit, 
and  who  does  not  flatter  a  man  by  demanding  his 
attention  and  referring  to  his  opinion  on  every  sub- 
ject which  requires  more  thought  than  crocheting 
or  tennis. 

"  No,"  after  a  moment's  pause.  "  Men  do  not 
find  thoughtful  women  interesting.  I  learned  that 
long  ago.  I  went  to  a  mixed  high  school,  and 
when  we  young  folks  went  on  picnics  or  sleighrides, 
it  was  always  the  poorest  scholar  in  the  class  who 
had  the  smallest  waist  and  wore  the  most  bracelets, 
a  good-natured  little  society  girl,  who  received  the 
most  attention  from  the  young  men.  But  they 
were  all  callow  boys,  and  I  did  not  think  or  care 
much  about  them.  I  knew  a  few  men  of  the  finest 
sort  who  showed  me  what  men  could  be,  and  I  did 
not  think  then,  what  I  am  coming  to  believe  now, 
that  many  of  the  real  gentlemen  who  mean  to  be 
chivalrous,  and  who  imagine  that  they  give  the 
highest  honor  to  women,  actually  admire  the  How- 
ells-farce-type  of  woman  above  every  other,  —  that 
is  to  say,  a  pretty,  prattling,  conscientious,  irra- 
tional little  goose." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.        Ill 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  Howells's  women," 
said  I,  rather  surprised  at  this  outburst ;  "  and  I 
did  n't  suppose  you  ever  condescended  to  anything 
less  than  Hawthorne  or  George  Eliot." 

"  Oh  yes,  I  always  read  everything  of  Howells's, 
though  I  abominate  his  women.  But  he  is  so  inim- 
itably droll  and  bright,  and  then  the  local  Boston 
flavor  of  his  stories  is  rather  fascinating  to  a  Bos- 
tonian,  you  know." 

"  Very  likely  he  does  not  admire  his  women  him- 
self ;  he  may  simply  wish  to  show  up  that  type,"  I 
suggested. 

"  Yes,  and  a  pretty  common  type  I  am  finding 
it  to  be  after  all,  though  I  once  used  to  scorn  the 
idea,"  said  Mildred,  despondingly. 

Then  she  added,  as  she  nervously  twirled  the 
little  silver  Maltese  cross,  the  badge  of  the  King's 
Daughters,  which  she  always  wore,  "  I  suppose  I 
have  known  as  little  and  cared  as  little  about  men 
as  any  girl  who  ever  lived.  But  I  have  lived  too 
much  like  a  nun,"  she  sighed;  "this  new  life  of 
these  past  few  weeks  has  awakened  me ;  I  feel  that 
I  have  missed  something. 

"  I  wish  "  — 

"  Well,  dear,  what  do  you  wish  ?  "  I  asked,  as 
she  hesitated. 

"  I  wish,"  said  she  decidedly,  "  that  I  could 
meet  some  thoroughly  fine  men  with  brains  and 
heart  who  liked  me  for  myself,  who  liked  what 
was  best  in  me.  I  honestly  confess  it  is  pleasant 
to  be  liked  and  sought  after,  pleasanter  than  I  used 


112          MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

to  think.  I  can  see  now  how  easy  it  is  to  get  one's 
head  turned."  Then,  after  a  little  pause  : 

"  But  in  society  we  can  never  be  sure  what  the 
attraction  is.  Everything,  vulgarity,  ignorance,  im- 
morality, —  everything  is  pardonable  with  wealth." 

"  Hush,  dear,  you  are  getting  desperate,"  I  said. 
"  There  are,  no  doubt,  many  grades  of  New  York 
society  where  all  that  may  be  pardoned  on  the  score 
of  wealth ;  but  you  have  not  seen  much  of  that,  so 
far,  and  we  have  met  many  really  fine,  cultivated 
people  who  have  traveled  and  studied  and  have  real 
character.  You  spoke  enthusiastically  of  the  talk 
about  Art  which  you  had  the  other  night  over  in 
the  bay  window  with  Professor  Stuart  and  that 
English  artist  with  all  the  letters  after  his  name." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  they  were  as  entertaining  as  pos- 
sible, and  gave  me  ideas  I  had  never  thought  of  by 
myself ;  but  then  they  were  graybeards  of  fifty.  I 
was  thinking  of  younger  men  whom  one  might "  — 
and  Mildred  hesitated  and  looked  out  of  the  win- 
dow, blushing. 

"  Why  don't  you  finish  it,"  I  said  mischievously  ; 
"  whom  one  might  marry?  " 

But  Mildred  only  laughed  and  said  nothing. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ONE  morning  at  breakfast,  as  we  were  sipping 
our  chocolate,  Mildred  cried  out,  "  Oh,  Ruby,  I  for- 
got to  tell  you !  I  am  going  to  have  a  symposium 
here  to-night." 

"  A  symposium !  —  of  whom  ?  and  what  is  it  all 
to  be  about?  Let  me  hear  your  latest  scheme," 
I  queried,  laying  down  my  black  Hamburgs  and 
looking  up  at  her.  Her  face  was  very  bright  and 
animated,  and  the  scheme,  whatever  it  was,  evi- 
dently interested  her  considerably. 

Mildred  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  twirled 
the  beautiful  ruby  ring  which  she  always  wore. 
This  ring  had  been  her  sister's,  and  was  an  heir- 
loom ;  she  rarely  wore  any  other  jewels,  and  when 
she  was  preoccupied  she  had  a  habit  of  turning  it 
round  and  round  on  her  finger. 

"  I  mean,"  said  Mildred,  "  to  get  together  all  the 
wisdom  on  the  tenement  -  house  question  that  is 
available  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  and  see  what 
the  consensus  of  opinion  is  ;  and  I  am  going  to 
have  my  amanuensis  take  notes  for  future  refer- 
ence. You  know  I  have  some  cooperative  theories 
of  my  own  in  regard  to  the  matter,  and  I  wish  to 
ascertain  what  these  practical  workers  think  of 
them." 


114         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  Whom  have  you  invited  ?  "  I  inquired,  begin- 
ning to  be  interested. 

"•  Oh,  Professor  Felix  Adler,  for  one.  He  built 
those  tenements  that  we  saw  the  other  day  down  on 
Cherry  Street,  you  remember,  and  he  is  also  very 
much  interested  in  manual  training.  Then  there 
is  Mr.  Pratt,  who  founded  that  great  Pratt  Insti- 
tute in  Brooklyn,  with  all  kinds  of  industrial  train- 
ing and  a  free  library  and  reading-room.  Then  — 
let  me  see  —  I  have  invited  Mr.  Barnard  of  the 
Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  Mrs.  Alice  Welling- 
ton Rollins,  who  wrote  '  Uncle  Tom's  Tenement,' 
Mr.  Charles  L.  Brace  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society, 
most  of  the  agents  of  the  model  tenement  houses 
that  I  have  visited,  several  of  the  lady  visitors  in 
the  charity  organizations,  and  one  or  two  archi- 
tects." 

As  it  proved,  however,  not  all  who  were  invited 
came,  but  there  were  enough  to  comfortably  fill  our 
pretty  parlor.  There  were  Jews  and  Gentiles,  radi- 
cals and  high-churchmen,  all  interested  in  the  same 
subject,  and  many  of  them  meeting  each  other  for 
the  first  time. 

Mildred  had  chocolate  and  cakes  and  fruit  served, 
and  then  proceeded  to  business  in  the  dignified, 
quiet  way  which  so  well  became  her. 

"  I  have  asked  you  here  this  evening,"  she  said, 
"  that  I  may  get  the  benefit  of  your  united  wisdom 
and  experience.  I  seek  enlightenment  as  to  the 
best  way  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  housing  of  the 
poor  in  a  great  city.  I  wish  to  do  something  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         115 

make  the  conditions  of  existence  a  little  more  bear- 
able for  some  of  the  wretched  creatures  that  I  have 
been  seeing  of  late  in  such  places  as  the  Mulberry 
Street  Bend,  on  Hester,  Forsyth,  and  Cherry 
streets,  and  a  hundred  other  places. 

"  For  some  years,  in  connection  with  the  Asso- 
ciated Charity  work  of  Boston,  I  have  visited  poor 
families  in  the  alleys  of  North  Street,  and  have 
made  myself  somewhat  familiar  with  the  problems 
that  are  besetting  us  in  the  herding  together  of 
enormous  numbers  of  people  under  conditions  that, 
I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying,  never  before  existed. 
What  little  I  have  seen  in  other  cities  is  as  nothing 
to  what  I  find  here.  And  it  is  here  in  New  York, 
where  I  am  told  you  have  the  most  thickly  popu- 
lated square  mile  on  the  globe,  and  where  the  dregs 
from  Castle  Garden  remain,  that  I  propose  to  do 
something. 

"As  I  have  been  about  with  your  district  visi- 
tors and  have  picked  my  way  among  the  garbage 
barrels  and  swarming  mass  of  humanity  in  the 
Jewish  quarter,  on  their  market  day,  I  have  won- 
dered how  it  was  possible  for  morality  to  exist  in 
the  close  personal  contact  and  absolute  want  of  pri- 
vacy which  this  lack  of  space  necessitates.  Now, 
tell  me,  what  is  to  be  done  to  relieve  this  condition 
of  things  and  permit  those  little  gamins  to  grow  up 
decent  American  citizens?  Are  things  worse  or 
are  they  better  than  they  used  to  be  ?  I  hear  that 
a  mint  of  money  is  spent  in  charity,  but  I  hear  also 
that  in  the  past  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of  pau- 


116         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

perism  has  been  found  to  be  unwise  philanthropy, 
and  the  more  I  look  into  the  question  the  more  per- 
plexed and  uncertain  I  find  myself. 

"What  does  your  experience  suggest?"  asked 
Mildred,  turning  with  one  of  her  winning  smiles  to 
a  cheery-faced  lady  of  perhaps  fifty  years  of  age, 
who  sat  at  her  right. 

"  That  is  a  pretty  hard  question  to  answer,"  was 
the  reply.  "  I  've  been  at  work  for  twenty-five 
years  down  on  the  East  side  near  the  river,  and  I 
am  free  to  say  that  I  don't  see  much  improvement. 
Of  course,  things  are  better  in  some  ways ;  there  is 
better  sanitary  inspection  than  there  used  to  be, 
and  need  enough  there  is  of  it  too,  with  these  filthy 
Italians  and  Polish  Jews  who  are  pouring  in  here 
every  week  by  the  thousands.  I  must  say  I 
have  n't  much  hope  of  them." 

"  Yes,  of  course  ;  but  have  n't  you  hope  of  the 
children  ?  "  inquired  Mildred,  eagerly. 

"  Yes,  a  little  more  hope  for  them,  certainly," 
responded  the  lady  somewhat  dubiously,  with  a 
sigh  that  contrasted  strangely  with  her  bright, 
hopeful  face ;  "  but  I  must  say  frankly,  that  the 
more  I  see  of  the  poor,  the  more  hopeless  I  some- 
times feel  and  the  less  able  to  make  generalizations 
and  give  advice.  I  used  to  think  it  a  compara- 
tively simple  thing,  requiring  merely  money  and 
hard  work.  Ten  years  ago  I  could  have  given  you 
advice  very  glibly,  but  I  don't  feel  so  sure  about 
anything  now ;  there  are  so  many  sides  to  every- 
thing, and  so  many  exceptions  to  every  rule. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         117 

"  Of  course,  good  tenement  houses  are  a  great 
thing,  provided  you  can  have  a  janitor  and  a  house- 
keeper to  keep  them  in  order.  But  the  best  model 
tenement  house  in  the  world  would  be  completely 
ruined  if  entirely  given  over  to  the  class  of  tenants 
I  know  about.  They  will  just  as  likely  as  not 
throw  their  ashes  and  garbage  down  the  waste- 
pipes,  and  pile  all  their  bedding  out  on  the  fire- 
escapes,  blocking  them  up  so  as  to  make  them  al- 
most useless  in  case  of  a  fire.  It  requires  the  pa- 
tience of  Job  to  deal  with  such  people.  They  don't 
care  for  your  new  improvements,  and  they  don't  pro- 
pose to  be  restrained  by  any  regulations  or  rules. 

"  As  for  the  model  tenement  houses  that  we 
have,  doubtless  they  are  excellent.  But  they  don't 
as  a  general  thing  reach  the  lowest  class  of  people, 
and  in  any  event  they  are  a  mere  drop  in  the 
bucket.  There  's  just  one  consolation  about  it  all, 
as  I  say  to  myself  when  I  go  about,  —  these  people 
have  never  been  used  to  anything  better,  and  they 
don't  know  how  miserable  they  are." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  think  is  the  worst  of  it," 
said  Mrs.  Rollins,  as  the  speaker  paused.  "  The 
fact  that  they  don't  know  anything  better,  don't 
expect  anything  better,  don't  want  anything  better, 
is  the  frightful  thing  about  it.  As  to  whether 
things  are  getting  better  or  not  I  can't  say,  but  I 
know  this,  the  tenement  house  has  come  to  stay; 
it  cannot  be  eliminated  from  the  modern  problem 
of  living.  Thousands  of  our  well-to-do  people  are 
living  in  flats  and  suites  simply  to  avoid  the  burden 


118          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

and  expense  of  having  to  entertain  so  much  com- 
pany, and  these  buildings,  like  the  Spanish  flats  or 
the  Dacotah,  are  really  only  another  kind  of  tene- 
ment house.  As  I  say,  the  tenement  house  has 
come  to  stay.  Separate  houses  for  separate  fami- 
lies are  going  to  be  fewer  and  fewer  in  our  large 
cities,  where  land  is  becoming  more  and  more  valu- 
able. The  thing  that  remains  for  us  to  do  is  to 
build  with  more  skill  and  wisdom,  so  that  while 
the  separate  house  must  more  and  more  give  way, 
the  home  need  not  be  sacrificed." 

"  Miss  Brewster,"  said  a  gray-bearded  man 
whose  name  I  did  not  learn,  "  as  to  the  question 
whether  the  charities  and  sanitary  improvements  of 
the  city  have  amounted  to  anything  in  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  it  seems  to  me  it  is  not  well  for 
us  to  rely  wholly  on  personal  impressions.  There 
are  figures  at  command  which  can  abundantly 
show  that  in  two  respects  at  least  —  the  lessening 
of  the  rates  of  mortality  and  the  reduction  of  ar- 
rests for  crime  —  we  have  made  an  immense  ad- 
vance on  twenty-five  years  ago,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  population  has  nearly  doubled.  Permit 
me  to  state  a  few  facts." 

"  Good  ;  this  is  just  what  I  want,"  said  Mildred 
with  keen  attention. 

He  continued :  "  In  1864,  when  the  sanitary  ex- 
amination of  the  city  was  made,  some  wards  were 
found  to  be  peopled  at  the  rate  of  290,000  persons 
to  the  square  mile,  while  in  the  most  densely  popu- 
lated part  of  London  the  number  was  less  than 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         119 

176,000  to  the  square  mile.  To  show  what  sanitary 
regulations  will  do,  let  me  say  that  the  number  of 
deaths  in  London  previous  to  a  good  sanitary  gov- 
ernment was  one  in  twenty,  and  in  New  York  one 
in  thirty-five,  -while  after  such  regulations  the  num- 
ber in  London  was  reduced  to  one  in  forty-five, 
and  in  New  York  to  one  in  thirty-eight  and  a  half. 

"We  think  our  tenement  houses  now  are  bad 
enough,  but  let  me  read  you  a  report  of  the  condi- 
tion of  things  in  1866.  '  At  this  time  the  cities  of 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  were  filled  with  nuisances, 
many  of  them  of  years'  duration.  The  streets 
were  uncleaned ;  manure  heaps,  containing  thou- 
sands of  tons,  occupied  piers  and  vacant  lots  ;  sewers 
were  obstructed ;  houses  were  crowded  and  badly 
ventilated  and  lighted  ;  stables  and  yards  were  filled 
with  stagnant  water,  and  many  dark  and  damp  cel- 
lars were  inhabited.  The  streets  were  obstructed, 
and  the  wharves  and  piers  were  filthy  and  danger- 
ous from  dilapidation.  Cattle  were  driven  through 
the  streets  at  all  hours  of  the  day  in  large  numbers. 
Slaughter  houses  were  open  to  the  streets,  and  were 
offensive  from  the  accumulated  offal  and  blood,  or 
filled  the  sewers  with  decomposing  animal  matter. 
Gas  companies,  shell-burners,  and  fat-boilers  pur- 
sued their  occupations  without  regard  to  the  public 
health  or  comfort,  filling  the  air  with  disgusting 
odors  ;  and  roaming  swine  were  the  principal  scav- 
engers of  the  streets  and  gutters ! ' 

"Moreover,"  the  gentleman  continued,  "owing 
to  the  general  indifference  and  ignorance  concern- 


120         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

ing  sanitary  construction  of  houses,  tenement  houses 
used  often  to  be  found  having  on  one  floor  ten  or 
twelve  interior  rooms,  with  no  means  of  ventilation 
or  light  except  through  other  rooms  ;  and  at  night, 
when  these  rooms  were  occupied  and  the  doors 
closed,  one  may  imagine  the  amount  of  poison 
which  each  person  was  compelled  to  breathe.  Now, 
all  that  has  been  remedied  to  a  great  extent.  No 
such  houses  are  allowed  to  be  built,  and  in  lodging- 
houses  there  is  a  wholesome  regulation  as  to  the 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  air-space  allowed  to  each 
individual.  Sanitary  inspection  is  conducted  by 
competent  officials  at  regular  intervals.  The  public 
conscience  has  been  aroused  in  this  matter. 

"As  I  look  back  thirty-five  years,  I  find  that 
among  the  better  class  of  people  there  is  far  more 
fastidiousness  in  regard  to  all  matters  of  personal 
cleanliness  than  there  used  to  be.  There  are  more 
bathing  facilities,  a  greater  delicacy  in  manners  at 
table,  a  greater  tendency  to  isolation  and  privacy 
in  personal  matters  of  the  toilet,  and  so  forth,  and 
therefore  among  every  class  of  people  a  better  sen- 
timent in  regard  to  the  enforcement  of  sanitary  reg- 
ulations than  there  used  to  be  when  I  was  a  boy. 
But  those  who  are  helping  these  things,  although 
many  absolutely,  are  relatively  pitifully  few.  Yet 
no  one  who  knows  the  condition  of  affairs  twenty 
years  ago  can  question  that  an  advance  has  been 
made.  We  are  learning  to  organize  charity  better, 
we  are  spending  our  efforts  in  more  profitable  di- 
rections, and  we  are  training  our  public  not  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         121 

increase  pauperism  by  the  old-fashioned,  pernicious 
methods  of  indiscriminate  giving.  In  regard  to  the 
lessening  of  juvenile  crime  I  think  Mr.  Brace  can 
give  the  most  valuable  opinion  of  any  one  present." 

All  eyes  were  turned  to  Mr.  Brace,  and  there  was 
a  hearty  hand-clapping  as  he  prepared  to  speak. 

"  Since  1852,"  he  said,  "  the  society  which  I  rep- 
resent has  been  doing  its  best  to  rescue  the  little 
wanderers  of  this  city  from  lives  of  suffering  and 
degradation.  The  value  of  its  work  is  too  well 
known  for  me  to  enlarge  upon  it.  We  are  met 
here  this  evening  to  discuss  tenement  houses,  and 
I  will  therefore  take  the  time  to  make  only  two  or 
three  statements  in  reply  to  Miss  Brewster's  inquiry 
as  to  whether  the  morals  of  the  community  have 
improved,  and  whether  charitable  and  reformatory 
work  is  of  much  value.  Now,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  overcrowding  in  the  poor  quarters  is 
greater  than  ever,  that  the  lowest  of  the  European 
population  are  pouring  into  our  city  to  an  alarming 
extent,  that  our  municipal  government  has  often 
been  notoriously  corrupt,  in  spite  of  all  this,  I  say, 
by  means  of  the  efforts  which  have  been  put  forth, 
there  has  been  a  steady  and  most  satisfactory  de- 
crease in  crime  during  all  these  years.  Allow  me  to 
give  you  a  few  figures.  In  1859  there  were  more 
than  five  thousand  five  hundred  commitments  for 
female  vagrancy,  and  in  1886,  notwithstanding  the 
general  increase  in  population,  there  were  less  than 
two  thousand  five  hundred  commitments  for  the 
same  cause.  In  the  eleven  years  preceding  1886, 


122         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

the  decrease  in  arrests  for  drunkenness  among 
males  was  just  about  fifty  per  cent.  I  will  hand 
you  a  table,  Miss  Brewster,  giving  you  the  report 
of  juvenile  crimes  since  1875,  and  also  the  Police 
record  containing  the  general  report  for  the  city, 
the  details  of  which  you  can  read  at  your  leisure. 
I  will  simply  say  now  that  the  net  summing  up  of 
these  reports  shows  a  remarkable  decrease  in  crime 
of  all  sorts  of  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.  This,  I 
think,  will  answer  your  question  as  to  whether,  on 
the  whole,  our  city  is  any  better." 

"  There  is  another  thing  to  be  noticed,"  said  a 
little  lady  over  in  the  corner.  "People  of  all 
classes  think  more  of  going  into  the  country  and 
getting  fresh  air  than  they  used  to.  Thousands  of 
families  who  thirty  years  ago  would  not  have  spent 
two  or  three  weeks  in  the  year  out  of  the  city  now 
think  they  must  have  two  months  at  least.  They 
have  come  to  consider  this  a  necessity  for  them- 
selves, and  it  makes  them  through  sympathy  appre- 
ciate a  little  the  needs  of  the  very  poor  during  the 
fierce  summer  heat.  The  lovely  charities  of  the 
Flower  Mission,  Country  Week,  and  the  harbor 
excursions  have  grown  out  of  this  sympathy  for 
others. 

"  I,  for  one,  think  that  the  world  is  far  more 
kind  and  sympathetic  than  it  used  to  be,  in  all  sorts 
of  little  ways,  as  is  shown  by  the  multiplication 
of  such  societies  as  the  '  King's  Daughters '  and 
4  Lend  a  Hand  '  clubs,  by  the  increased  tenderness 
with  children,  and  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         123 

I  don't  mean  to  say  that  people  are  much  happier, 
for  they  have  a  higher  standard  and  are  less  con- 
tent with  objectionable  things  than  they  used  to  be 
when  I  was  a  child  forty  years  ago.  But  I  for  one 
do  not  decry  that  kind  of  discontent  with  existing 
bad  circumstances.  To  me  it  seems  to  be  only  the 
precursor  of  reform.  I  do  not  believe  in  encour- 
aging the  poor  to  be  content  with  their  lot.  I 
think,  with  Mrs.  Rollins,  that  the  worst  thing  possi- 
ble is  this  fearful  apathy  toward  bad  surroundings, 
of  which  one  sees  so  much  among  our  low  foreign- 
ers. The  first  thing  to  do  in  Americanizing  them 
is  to  make  them  discontented  with  living  like  the 
brutes." 

"And  what  is  the  first  step  in  that  direction?" 
inquired  Mildred,  thoughtfully.  "  Is  it  more  legis- 
lation to  regulate  and  limit  this  fearful  inflow  of 
more  people  than  we  are  able  to  cope  with ;  or  is  it 
a  large  concerted  movement  of  capitalists  to  pro- 
vide better  tenements  ?  Or  is  it  education  and 
Christianization  ?  " 

"  As  I  hold,  it  is  each  and  all  of  these,"  said  a 
blond-haired,  keen-eyed  young  man  in  the  back 
part  of  the  room,  rising  as  he  spoke  and  leaning 
against  the  mantel.  He  spoke  in  a  clear,  crisp 
way  which  was  pleasant  to  hear. 

"Legislation  is  needed,  after  we  first  enforce 
the  laws  which  we  already  have;  but  it  would 
hardly  be  worth  while  to  petition  for  new  ones 
when  we  can  make  the  old  but  little  more  than  a 
dead  letter.  At  present  no  foreigner  can  be  al- 


124         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

lowed  by  law  to  land  who  has  not  money  enough 
to  support  himself  for  a  year ;  and  yet  how  often  is 
this  law  enforced  ?  No  ;  as  long  as  the  pressure 
of  taxation  and  the  burden  of  a  great  standing 
army  exists  in  every  country  in  Europe,  as  long  as 
our  unchristian  tariff  prevents  the  natural  inflow 
of  foreign  products  and  grinds  down  the  laborers 
of  the  old  world,  so  long  shall  we  be  compelled  to 
face  this  problem  of  Americanizing  two  thirds  of 
the  population  of  our  great  cities.  We  here  in 
New  York  live  in  a  foreign  city.  There  are  less 
than  fifteen  per  cent,  of  us  whose  parents  were 
born  in  this  country  and  bred  in  its  political,  re- 
ligious, and  social  traditions.  One  does  n't  realize 
this  in  walking  down  Broadway  or  Fifth  Avenue  ; 
but  in  some  parts  of  the  city  where  most  people  do 
not  often  go,  one  would  think  himself  in  Germany, 
or  Italy,  or  Poland. 

"Now,  you  ask  what  is  the  first  step  toward 
Americanizing  this  foreign  element.  I  say,  educa- 
tion, Christianity,  and  better  living.  There  isn't 
much  use  in  trying  to  teach  children  when  their 
stomachs  are  empty ;  there  is  not  much  use  in 
goody-goody  Sunday-school  talk  without  the  dis- 
cipline in  cleanliness,  order,  and  industry  which 
the  day  school  alone  can  compel ;  neither  is  there 
much  use  in  giving  these  people  palaces  to  live  in 
and  supplying  them  with  comforts  and  conven- 
iences, unless  at  the  same  time  you  bring  some 
moral  power  to  bear  upon  them,  while  also  helping 
them  to  a  pretty  good  acquaintance  with  the  three 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         125 

R's.  You  see,  it  works  both  ways.  Clean  and 
wholesome  physical  surroundings  create  an  oppor- 
tunity for  mental  and  spiritual  growth,  and  with- 
out the  latter  the  former  would  not  be  appreciated 
or  preserved." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  the  last  speaker,"  said  Pro- 
fessor Adler  in  his  mild,  quiet  way,  contrasting 
with  the  briskness  of  the  blond  young  man  whose 
common-sense  talk  had  pleased  us.  "  The  supply 
of  pure  air,  sanitary  regulations,  and  decent  com- 
forts must  be  the  primary  object  of  the  philan- 
thropist who  would  solve  the  problem  of  the  hous- 
ing of  the  poor ;  but  it  will  avail  little,  unless  it  is 
invariably  accompanied  by  constant  supervision, 
helpfulness,  and  sympathy.  Every  tenement  house 
should  have  a  responsible  resident  agent,  —  not 
a  mere  perfunctory  person  who  shall  issue  orders 
and  collect  the  rent,  but  one  who  in  case  of  sick- 
ness or  trouble  can  give  advice  and  help,  and  by 
living  constantly  in  friendly  relations  with  tenants 
can  initiate  reforms  in  a  wise  way.  The  stub- 
bornness and  conservatism  of  the  ignorant  in  op- 
posing what  is  for  their  real  good  is  one  of  the 
most  surprising  things  we  have  to  contend  with. 
One  would  think,  for  instance,  that  a  cooperative 
grocery  store,  situated  in  a  tenement  house,  and 
giving  good  quality  at  as  reasonable  prices  as  could 
be  obtained  elsewhere,  would  be  an  inducement  to 
the  average  tenant  to  buy.  But  so  great  is  the 
suspicion  that  we  are  trying  to  take  advantage  of 
them  in  some  way,  that  they  will  often  prefer  to 


126         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

go  farther  and  pay  more,  simply  to  assert  their  in- 
dependence." 

"  Do  they  take  kindly  to  free  kindergartens  ?  " 
inquired  Mildred. 

"  Yes,  when  they  come  to  understand  them ;  but 
the  announcement  of  a  kindergarten,  free  reading- 
room,  and  bath-rooms  in  connection  with  a  new 
tenement  house  rarely  offers  much  inducement  to 
the  average  laborer  looking  for  rooms.  But  a 
large  room  which  can  be  used  in  the  morning  for 
kindergarten  purposes,  and  at  other  times  for  a 
gathering  place  for  clubs  and  singing-classes,  is  an 
invaluable  thing  in  every  large  tenement  house. 
This  gives  a  foothold  for  all  kinds  of  work  to  be 
conducted  by  young  gentlemen  and  ladies  who  de- 
sire to  uplift  the  youth  of  these  neighborhoods. 
Gymnastic  classes  and  glee  clubs  form  a  sort  of 
neutral  ground  where  all  may  meet  on  a  common 
level,  and  where  the  refinement,  intelligence,  and 
good  breeding  of  those  who  are  willing  to  give 
their  services  once  or  twice  a  week  will  soon 
make  itself  felt.  It  is  not  necessary  that  they 
should  directly  teach  or  preach ;  but  if  they  are 
well-bred,  kind-hearted  people,  they  will  by  their 
mere  tones  of  voice  and  their  method  of  managing 
things  exert  a  subtle  influence  which  in  time  will 
give  them  the  power  to  go  further  and  attempt 
other  things. 

"  The  quickest  way  to  Americanize  an  ignorant 
foreigner  is  to  give  him  frequent  object  lessons  in 
the  shape  of  the  best  type  of  American  citizen." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          127 

"  I  think  I  understand  you,"  said  Mildred,  "  and 
it  is  what  I  myself  thoroughly  believe.  The  model 
tenement-house  question  is  not  merely  a  question 
of  brick  and  stone,  ventilation,  bath-rooms,  and 
four  per  cent. ;  it  is  a  question  largely  of  providing 
the  best  means  for  uplifting  spiritually,  mentally, 
and  physically  these  swarming  masses.  Speaking 
of  four  per  cent.,  let  me  inquire  whether  tenement 
houses  can  be  considered  a  good  money  invest- 
ment. Not  that  I,  personally,  am  anxious  to  make 
money  out  of  them  ;  but  I  suppose  it  goes  without 
saying  that  anything  like  this  which  does  not  pay 
a  fair  percentage,  and  is  really  a  charity,  in  the 
end  tends  to  pauperize  and  is  pernicious." 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Professor  Adler  ;  "  and  not 
only  that,  but  most  of  the  poor  are  too  proud  to 
accept  charity  in  that  form,  though,  inconsistently 
enough,  they  may  be  quite  ready  to  accept  it  in 
other  ways.  But  anything  which  savors  of  an  in- 
stitution or  charity,  and  that  puts  them  under  ob- 
ligations, is  sure  to  fail.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
hold  out  to  capitalists  the  idea  that  they  had  bet- 
ter put  their  money  into  tenement  houses  because 
it  is  a  good  investment  is  something  I  do  not  like 
to  do.  A  man  who  wishes  simply  to  make  money 
would  tell  me  that  he  knows  far  better  methods 
than  mine,  and  would  consider  my  advice  an  im- 
pertinence. But  every  man,  no  matter  how  much 
of  an  egotist  he  may  be,  likes  to  be  thought  un- 
selfish, and  if  I  can  tell  him  that  here  is  a  means  of 
doing  great  good  while  at  the  same  time  he  loses 


128         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

no  money,  then  he  may  listen  to  me.  Money 
wisely  put  into  tenements  can  provide  for  the  ten- 
ant far  more  advantages  than  he  usually  has;  it 
can  give  light,  air,  cleanliness,  many  conveniences 
in  common  with  others,  and  yield  to  the  landlord 
four  per  cent,  besides.  Some  good  tenements  pay 
six  per  cent.,  but  this  is  perhaps  at  a  sacrifice  of 
conveniences  to  the  tenant,  or  is  due  to  some  spe- 
cial reasons.  However,  as  the  security  of  the  in- 
vestment is  so  great,  four  per  cent,  may  be  consid- 
ered fair  interest." 

"  Good  ;  now  as  to  the  details,"  said  Mildred  in 
her  practical  way.  "  I  want  to  tell  you  my  scheme, 
and  then  let  you  criticise  it  to  the  utmost.  I  sup- 
pose I  was  born  with  a  bump  for  economy  ;  at  all 
events,  nothing  tries  me  more  than  the  excessive 
waste  which  I  have  seen  around  me  all  my  life.  I 
don't  mean  merely  waste  of  money,  but  waste  of 
time,  waste  of  energy  and  effort  in  every  direction. 
Of  course  there  is  less  of  the  latter  here  than  in  the 
old  world,  for  here  Yankee  ingenuity  does  not  have 
so  hard  a  fight  with  prejudice,  and  every  inventor 
of  a  labor-saving  machine  is  crowned  with  honor. 
Still,  there  is  a  terrible  amount  of  waste,  especially 
in  women's  work.  I  will  not  stop  to  speak  of  all 
phases  of  it ;  but  as  I  have  observed  men  and  women 
for  years,  and  have  seen  the  suffering  from  need- 
less backaches  caused  by  climbing  stairs  and  doing 
housework  in  an  unnecessarily  hard  way,  as  I  have 
seen  the  complexity  and  endless  details  of  our 
modern  life  crowd  out,  in  the  lives  of  all  but  the 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          129 

rich,  the  leisure  which  their  children  should  have, 
and  which  they  need  for  their  own  self-develop- 
ment, I  have  racked  my  brains  to  see  what  could 
be  done  to  simplify  the  petty  details  of  modern 
housekeeping. 

"  I  believe  that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  a  new  era 
in  this  respect.  The  prejudices  of  centuries  must 
give  way  to  the  new  requirements  of  a  civilization 
which  will  more  and  more  create  an  urban  popula- 
tion, and  also  a  higher  standard  of  physical  com- 
fort. Now  in  this,  time,  strength,  and  money  must 
be  better  conserved,  or  we  shall,  as  a  nation,  have 
nervous  prostration,  I  fear. 

"  My  only  solution  for  this,  or  for  a  part  of  it 
at  least,  seems  to  me  cooperation,  so  that  all  shall 
get  the  greatest  return  for  the  least  outlay.  I 
don't  mean  for  a  moment  that  I  believe  hotel  life 
or  boarding-house  life  to  be  the  life  of  the  family 
of  the  future.  Heaven  forbid !  That  the  privacy 
and  seclusion  of  the  individual  and  family  should 
be  preserved  is  imperative.  The  home  is  the  first 
consideration.  But  that  one's  food  should  be 
cooked,  or  one's  clothes  made  or  washed,  inside  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  family,  seems  to  me  no  es- 
sential feature  of  the  home,  and  I  am  convinced 
that  where  prejudice  can  be  removed,  a  great  gain 
would  be  made  by  eliminating  the  first  and  last,  at 
least  from  the  home  of  the  city  poor. 

"  In  regard  to  the  value  of  a  common  laundry 
with  set  tubs,  I  think  most  of  you  have  found 
them  successful.  I  have  found  only  one  person  — 


130         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

an  attendant  in  the  beautiful  Astral  flats  of  Green 
Point  —  who  told  me  that  they  were  considered  un- 
desirable, as  tending  to  encourage  gossip  and  quar- 
reling. Now  the  dwellings  which  I  mean  to  build 
are  intended  for  a  lower  class  of  people  than  any 
whom  I  have  hitherto  found  occupying  model  tene- 
ment houses.  In  those  on  Seventy-second  Street, 
I  was  told  there  were  many  mechanics  earning 
three  to  four  dollars  a  day.  Such  people  are  not 
what  I  call  poor,  and  I  design  my  houses  for  peo- 
ple who  earn,  at  most,  only  half  of  that.  I  want 
to  give  them  the  greatest  possible  return  for  their 
money,  and  at  the  same  time  make  a  fair  per  cent. 
on  the  capital  invested.  The  income  thus  derived 
I  shall  devote  to  the  erection  of  more  houses. 

"  I  propose  to  make  the  buildings  fairly  fire- 
proof, with  iron  staircases  and  stone-paved  halls. 
The  interior  walls  will  be  of  painted  brick.  Upon 
the  top  of  the  house  I  propose  to  have  a  well- 
fenced,  well-paved  play-ground,  believing  that  the 
roof  space  which  is  so  rarely  utilized  in  our  great 
cities  may  be  made  of  great  service  in  this  way. 
In  most  of  the  tenement  houses  I  find  that  the 
roof  is  not  allowed  to  be  used  for  anything  but 
drying  clothes,  the  owners  not  caring  to  go  to  the 
extra  expense  necessary  to  make  it  a  perfectly  safe 
place  for  children.  But,  if  it  is  all  planned  in  the 
beginning,  the  expense  will  be  comparatively  slight, 
and  the  open  space  thus  provided  will  afford  bet- 
ter air  than  any  interior  court,  and  be,  both  physi- 
cally and  morally,  a  far  safer  place  than  the  street. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         131 

By  a  simple  arrangement  of  pulleys  the  drying 
clothes  can  be  elevated  between  strong,  high  posts 
quite  above  the  heads  of  the  children,  so  that 
their  play  need  not  be  interrupted.  A  stout  wire 
netting  can  be  arranged  to  keep  the  clothes  from 
blowing  away. 

"  On  the  upper  floor  of  the  house  I  shall  have 
several  store-rooms  adjoining  a  freight  elevator 
and  a  kitchen.  This  will  be  connected  with  every 
floor  of  the  house  by  speaking  -  tubes  and  dumb- 
waiters, so  that  meals  can  be  cooked  here  for  the 
whole  number  of  tenants  and  delivered  hot  when 
ordered.  The  charge  will  be  simply  for  the  cost 
of  preparing  the  food  itself  and  the  fuel;  and 
as  everything  will  be  bought  by  the  quantity, 
the  expense  for  each  individual  will  be  moderate. 
I  believe  that  thus,  with  proper  arrangements,  and 
suiting  the  food  to  the  tastes,  of  the  occupants, 
the  whole  question  of  the  food  supply  may  be 
solved,  and  three  women  do  the  work  of  a  hun- 
dred. How  does  this  feature  of  the  house  impress 
you?" 

As  Mildred  paused,  three  voices  exclaimed  in 
chorus,  — 

"  It  would  never  work  in  the  world  !  "  "  Per- 
fectly impracticable !  "  "  They  would  not  like  it 
at  aU ! " 

"  Why  not?"  asked  Mildred. 

"  Well,  first  of  all,"  said  a  man  who  proved  to 
be  an  agent  in  one  of  the  large  model  tenement 
houses,  "  what  would  all  those  women  do  if  you 


132         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

take  away  their  work  from  them  ?  They  would 
be  idle  and  shiftless,  and  just  spend  their  time  in 
gossiping  and  quarreling.  I  know  'em." 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Mildred,  rather  tartly, 
"  that  if  the  average  poor  man's  wife  has  not  enough 
to  do  in  washing,  ironing,  scrubbing,  sweeping, 
making  and  mending  clothes  for  a  household  and 
attending  to  her  children,  we  need  not  feel  any 
necessity  laid  upon  us  to  fill  up  any  spare  moment 
she  may  have  for  herself  by  an  addition  of  need- 
less work  for  work's  sake.  I  know  poor  mothers 
in  Boston  who  don't  get  down  so  far  as  the  Common 
twice  a  year,  who  scarcely  see  a  green  tree  from 
one  year's  end  to  another,  who  never  think  they 
can  spare  a  moment's  time  to  amuse  their  children, 
and  who  gladly  turn  the  poor  little  ones  into 
the  street  to  get  them  away  from  the  hot  cooking- 
stove  which  occupies  the  best  part  of  the  only 
family  living-room.  It  is  to  such  mothers  that  I 
would  give  a  little  freedom,  and  in  time  they  will 
find  something  better  to  do  than  quarreling  and 
gossiping  if  they  live  in  my  tenements." 

"  But  they  will  have  to  pay  a  little  more  for 
their  food  than  if  they  cooked  it  themselves.  The 
wages  of  the  cook  must  be  paid,  and  even  a  little 
more  counts,"  remonstrated  another  skeptic. 

'•'Not  at  all,"  said  Mildred,  eagerly.  "  Think  of 
the  immense  saving  in  fuel  to  begin  with.  Why, 
most  of  these  people,  as  you  know  well,  buy  coal 
in  small  quantities,  often  by  the  hodful,  paying  for 
it  at  an  enormous  rate  when  reckoned  by  the  ton, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         133 

to  say  nothing  of  the  evil  of  sending  children  out 
along  the  wharves  to  pick  up  dirty  barrels  and 
bits  of  wood  for  kindling." 

"  But  in  winter  they  would  need  the  fire  just 
the  same  for  warmth,"  said  some  one. 

"  No ;  the  whole  house  would  have  steam  heat, 
thus  making  a  valuable  saving  of  space  as  well,  by 
doing  away  with  the  stove  and  place  for  fuel. 
The  halls  of  the  model  tenements  now  are  heated 
by  steam.  I  estimate  that  the  trifle  extra  which 
would  be  added  to  the  price  of  the  room  and  the 
food  would  be  no  more  than,  probably  not  so 
much  as,  what  would  be  spent  for  food  and  fuel  in 
the  old  way  ;  for  the  poor  that  I  have  known  are 
the  most  extravagant  people  living.  They  buy  a 
poor  quality  of  food  at  high  rates,  and  through 
bad  cooking  and  irregularity  of  living  waste  and 
spoil  much  that  they  have. 

"  Besides,  I  have  had  another  thing  in  mind,  — 
that  is,  the  mothers  who  go  out  to  work  by  the  day 
and  have  to  let  their  children  come  home  from 
school  to  pick  up  any  kind  of  cold  dinner  that  they 
find,  and  who,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  inva- 
riably spend  every  cent  they  get  upon  candy  and 
innutritions  cakes  bought  at  the  bakery." 

"  This  is  all  a  charming  theory,  Miss  Brewster," 
said  a  pale-faced  lady  with  auburn  hair,  who  had 
hitherto  remained  silent ;  "  but  I  am  afraid  that 
until  you  have  a  more  enlightened  community  to 
deal  with  it  won't  work.  The  conservatism,  per- 
haps one  might  call  it  the  stupidity,  of  the  lower 


134         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

classes  is  something  we  are  fighting  against  all  the 
time.  Every  innovation  has  to  be  introduced  with 
great  caution  in  order  not  to  offend  them.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  these  people  who  come  from  lands 
where  they  have  been  down-trodden,  with  no  priv- 
ileges of  any  sort,  stickle  more  for  their  rights  and 
independence,  and  are  far  less  willing  to  yield  to  re- 
strictions than  we.  They  don't  want  to  be  '  bossed.' 
They  want  to  do  as  they  please,  even  if  they  pay 
more  for  it  and  are  not  half  so  well  served.  The 
idea  of  saving  fuel  and  getting  rid  of  the  nuisance 
of  ash-barrels  would  not  appeal  to  the  low  Italians. 
They  cook  their  little  messes  of  macaroni  over  a 
few  sticks,  and  would  not  dream  of  using  the  fuel 
that  an  Irishman  would  require. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  about  a  cheap  lunch-room  that 
was  started  as  an  experiment  some  time  ago.  We 
gave  good,  nutritious  food  at  the  lowest  cost  price, 
and  what  was  the  result?  It  remained  on  our 
hands,  and  we  could  not  sell  it,  and  discovered  to 
our  surprise  that  the  people  for  whose  advantage 
we  had  established  it  learned  that  if  they  waited 
until  the  food  was  cold  and  ready  to  spoil  they 
could  come  to  the  back  door  and  ask  for  it  and 
get  it  for  little  or  nothing.  It  would  really  have 
been  wiser  to  throw  the  food  away.  Yet  the  very 
same  people  who  would  do  this  showed  a  decided 
pride  when  they  suspected  any  supervision  or  inter- 
ference in  their  domestic  affairs.  A  cooperative 
kitchen  was  established  in  one  of  our  tenement 
houses  as  an  experiment,  that  is,  a  range  to  be  used 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          135 

in  common,  in  order  to  save  the  fuel  and  heat  in 
summer  of  a  fire  in  each  separate  room.  But  no 
one  liked  to  use  it.  Each  woman  was  afraid  of 
interfering  or  being  interfered  with." 

"  Naturally  enough,"  said  Mildred ;  "  and  any- 
thing that  should  tend  to  mix  up  families,  where  the 
yielding  of  personal  preferences  and  '  taking  turns ' 
is  involved,  would  probably  fail  so  long  as  human 
nature  remains  human  nature.  I  do  not  propose 
anything  of  that  sort,  you  see." 

"I  think  myself,"  said  Professor  Adler,  "that 
the  idea  is  thoroughly  good,  and  if  cautiously  and 
wisely  carried  out  would  be  a  success.  I  should 
like  to  see  the  experiment  tried.  I  have  all  my 
life  been  preaching  cooperation,  not  only  for  the 
poor,  but  for  ourselves  as  well,  but  with  small  suc- 
cess." 

"  The  chief  objection,  I  suppose,"  said  Mildred, 
"  is,  that  when  food  is  cooked  in  large  quantities  it 
never  tastes  so  good.  In  time  everything  seems  to 
get  a  sort  of  boarding-house  flavor,  and  individual 
tastes  cannot  be  consulted  as  in  one's  own  home. 
This  may  be  made  an  objection  by  the  rich,  but 
that  a  fastidiousness  about  a  flavor  should  prevent 
people  from  trying  cooperation,  who  have  all  they 
can  do  to  keep  soul  and  body  together,  seems  to  me 
more  than  ridiculous." 

"  It  is  more  than  ridiculous,  and  I  for  one  have 
faith  that  people  can  be  taught  to  see  it,"  said  the 
blond  young  man  with  the  clear,  crisp  speech. 
"  The  people  who  have  lived  in  the  model  tenement 


136         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

houses  have  already  learned  to  use  dumb-waiters, 
speaking-tubes,  set  tubs,  ash-shutes,  and  the  like, 
and  have  seen  the  advantages  of  these  modern  con- 
veniences. Now,  with  patience  on  our  part  and  a 
painstaking  explanation  of  your  scheme,  I  think  that 
they  could  be  led  to  see  the  saving  in  time,  fuel, 
space,  money,  and  quality  of  food  as  well  as  the  in- 
creased variety  of  food  and  cleanliness  incident  to 
an  arrangement  such  as  you  propose,  and  which  I 
heartily  hope  you  will  carry  out.  The  thing  to  do, 
as  Octavia  Hill  in  her  work  in  London  has  wisely 
taught  us,  is  to  make  sure  that  we  put  in  the  right 
sort  of  men  and  women  to  manage  such  a  place. 
As  she  once  said, '  We  have  more  model  tenements 
than  we  know  how  to  take  care  of.  My  present 
work  is  to  train  women  who  will  go  down  and 
oversee  them.' 

"  If,  beside  the  man  who  is  employed  to  attend 
to  the  business  part  of  it  and  to  see  that  the  sani- 
tary condition  is  good,  you  will  also  put  in  one  or 
two  nice  American  women  who  will  look  after  the 
families  in  a  friendly  way,  giving  suggestions  and 
advice  with  tact,  and  carefully  explaining  the  ad- 
vantages of  improvements,  I  will  vouch  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  experiment.  If  some  object,  there  are 
enough  people  of  common  sense  in  the  city  to  fill 
one  house  at  least." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  one  speaker,  "  that  we 
ought  to  be  careful  about  talking  or  even  allowing 
ourselves  to  think  of  those  whom  we  call  the  '  lower 
classes '  as  being  essentially  different  from  our- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.         137 

selves.  They  are  ignorant,  of  course,  and  dread- 
fully shiftless,  some  of  them,  but  they  have  the 
same  instincts  and  affections  as  we,  and  I  for  one 
.respect  their  individuality  and  their  privacy  as  I 
would  our  own.  I  should  n't  like  to  ask  them  to  do 
anything  I  would  n't  do  myself  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. If  we  are  n't  ready  for  cooperation, 
how  can  we  expect  them  to  be  ?  " 

"  I  ask  nothing  of  any  one,"  replied  Mildred, 
"  which  I  would  not  be  glad  to  do  myself  under  the 
same  conditions,  or  under  better  conditions.  We 
are  learning  to  cooperate  in  a  thousand  ways  of 
which  our  grandfathers  never  dreamed.  Under 
the  pressure  of  new  duties  and  interests  which  our 
age  has  brought  with  it,  we  are  learning  to  elimi- 
nate useless  individual  work  where  combined  work 
is  better.  The  law  of  reciprocity  is  the  divine  law. 
Wasteful  individual  effort  belongs  to  the  age  of 
savagery.  Communism,  the  mingling  of  families, 
and  absence  of  personal  privacy  can  never  I  am 
convinced  be  tolerated  by  civilized  people ;  but  co- 
operation with  one's  fellows  in  harnessing  up  the 
forces  of  nature  to  subserve  our  material  interests 
and  leave  man  more  free  for  the  development  of 
his  higher  nature,  seems  to  me  the  only  rational 
thing  for  rational  beings.  Any  reluctance  to  see 
and  accept  this  seems  to  me  the  result  of  preju- 
dice." 

"  I  should  put  it  even  a  little  stronger  than  that," 
said  Professor  Adler,  gently.  "  Under  every  objec- 
tion which  has  been  presented  to  me  by  the  friends 


138         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

with  whom  I  have  for  years  been  laboring  in  this 
very  line  of  effort,  I  have  felt  that  there  was  not 
mere  prejudice  but  a  real,  unconscious  selfishness. 
All  objections  like  the  one  you  mention  are  mere 
matters  of  detail  which  could  be  properly  adjusted, 
and  the  freedom  of  the  wife  from  all  petty  details 
that  eat  up  the  greater  part  of  her  life  ought  to 
more  than  compensate  for  the  slight  sacrifice  of 
feeling  involved  in  doing  an  unaccustomed  thing. 
I  believe  that  we  shall  gradually  come  to  it ;  and 
meanwhile  our  boarding  -  houses  and  hotels  will 
shelter  larger  and  larger  numbers  of  women  driven 
from  housekeeping  by  the  weight  of  domestic  cares. 
They  will  have  lost  their  home  in  losing  their 
cook!" 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

FIFTH  AVENUE  HOTEL. 

DEAR  ALICE  :  What  an  age  it  seems  since  I  left 
Boston  and  exchanged  the  peace  and  quiet  of  my 
dear  old  attic  room  for  all  this  turmoil  and  whirl  of 
excitement !  I  have  done  more  thinking  in  the  last 
two  months  than  ever  before  in  my  life,  and  some- 
times I  feel  as  though  every  idea  had  been  squeezed 
out  of  my  brain.  If  it  were  not  that  I  insist  upon 
getting  some  hours  every  week  for  a  canter  in  the 
park,  I  fear  I  should  be  in  a  state  of  nervous  col- 
lapse. However,  I  am  beginning  to  see  my  way 
clear,  and  hope  to  get  away  in  a  month  or  so  and 
be  off  to  the  West.  Then  when  I  get  a  conscience 
tolerably  clear  I  shall  run  riot  like  a  school  -  boy 
out  of  school. 

Just  now  I  am  buried  deep  in  tenement-house 
problems.  I  have  had  two  or  three  conclaves  of 
all  the  wiseacres  I  could  get  together,  and  I  have 
been  considering  their  criticisms  and  suggestions, 
until  now  the  details  of  my  scheme  are  pretty 
nearly  complete,  and  I  sign  the  papers  with  my 
architect  and  builder  to-night. 

You  know  about  the  plan  for  cooperative  cook- 
ing which  I  used  to  discourse  upon  to  you  to  your 
infinite  amusement.  Well,  half  of  the  people  here 


140          MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

opposed  it  at  first  just  as  you  did.  They  said,  for 
one  thing,  that  no  one  under  heaven  would  be  aLle 
to  provide  the  kind  of  food  that  would  suit  all 
tastes.  There  would  be  Jews  who  would  want  to 
have  meat  killed  after  their  own  fashion  ;  the  Ital- 
ians would  want  horrid  messes  of  garlic  ;  the  Irish 
would  find  fault  if  they  didn't  have  the  finest 
white  bread  and  the  strongest  of  tea,  and  not  a 
blessed  one  of  them  would  eat  oatmeal,  the  coarse 
cereals,  nutritious  soups,  or  any  of  the  suitable 
things  that  they  ought  to  eat. 

All  of  which  is  more  or  less  true,  as  I  had  wit 
enough  to  know  myself  beforehand  ;  but  I  don't 
mean  to  let  it  daunt  me.  I  shall  let  all  my  tenants 
have  an  Atkinson  kerosene  stove  in  their  rooms,  if 
they  wish  to  pay  for  it,  and  on  this  they  can  do  an 
endless  amount  of  cooking  at  a  trifling  cost  for 
fuel,  and  a  great  saving  of  space  as  well  as  of  heat 
in  summer. 

I  have  engaged  one  of  the  graduates  of  Mrs. 
Lincoln's  cooking  school  to  take  my  first  kitchen 
in  charge.  Meantime,  until  the  buildings  are 
ready,  I  am  going  to  send  her  to  study  the  system 
of  marketing  and  cooking  for  hotels ;  also  the  kinds 
of  food  which  each  nationality  likes,  and  the  meth- 
ods of  its  preparation. 

The  kitchen  will  be  arranged  under  her  special 
supervision.  She  will  engage  her  own  assistants 
and  be  the  responsible  head.  She  will  have  a 
schedule  of  cooked  dishes,  with  prices  of  each  dis- 
played on  a  bulletin  in  the  corridors.  Special 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         141 

dishes  will  be  cooked  by  request,  and  orders  for 
food  can  be  sent  in  the  day  before.  Of  course  at 
first  there  may  be  a  little  waste  until  she  gets  famil- 
iar with  the  people  and  can  anticipate  their  wants; 
but  she  is  a  smart  Yankee  girl,  and  has  a  good- 
natured,  merry  way  with  her  which  I  am  sure  will 
win  recognition.  I  have  told  her  to  make  it  her 
first  point  to  please  the  people,  and  when  that  is 
accomplished  she  can  gradually  teach  them  to 
drink  milk  instead  of  tea,  and  to  eat  brown  bread 
instead  of  soda  crackers. 

One  objection  which  was  brought  up  was  that 
children  would  have  no  chance  to  learn  cooking, 
never  seeing  their  mothers  cook ;  but  I  said,  that 
not  one  woman  in  ten  of  those  I  have  in  mind 
knows  how  to  cook  either  in  a  cleanly  or  economi- 
cal way.  They  have  but  little  variety  in  their  cook- 
ing, moreover,  and  I  thought  the  loss  of  the  instruc- 
tion which  might  be  imparted  would  be  largely 
counterbalanced  by  the  knowledge  which  would  be 
gained  as  to  what  well-cooked  food  tasted  like. 

The  modus  operandi  of  getting  the  food  will  be 
something  like  this.  At  half-past  six,  Biddy  Flan- 
igan,  who  has  to  go  out  scrubbing  at  seven  o'clock, 
will  deposit  a  dime  with  her  teapot  and  an  empty 
dish  in  the  dumb-waiter  ;  she  will  call  up  through 
the  speaking-tube  that  she  wants  tea,  fried  pota- 
toes, and  three  rolls  ;  and  in  about  seventy  seconds 
the  dish  full  of  potatoes  done  to  a  turn,  and  not 
soaked  in  fat,  and  a  pot  full  of  tea  will  be  at  her 
elbow.  From  these  and  the  nice  home-made  rolls, 


142          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

neither  burned  nor  sour  nor    underdone,  she  and 
little  Patsy  and  Maggie  will  have  a  hot  breakfast. 

Then  Maggie  will  wash  the  dishes  with  the  hot 
water  running  at  the  sink ;  there  will  have  been  no 
ashes  to  dump,  or  clinkers  to  pick  out ;  no  fuel  to 
be  brought,  or  fire  made  ;  and  Biddy  can  put  on 
her  hood  and  depart,  knowing  that  the  children  will 
not  open  all  the  draughts  and  waste  the  coal,  or  set 
themselves  on  fire,  or  let  the  fire  go  out,  and  come 
home  from  school  to  a  dinner  of  cold  scraps,  with 
the  necessity  of  building  up  the  fire  again  at  night. 
For  with  a  nickel  in  the  dumb-waiter  at  noon,  and 
a  tin  can  containing  two  big  bowls  full  of  hot  soup, 
the  children  will  be  well  provided  for. 

I  have  some  little  plans  for  the  arrangements  of 
rooms  which  I  hope  will  work  well.  The  beds  of 
the  tenement  houses  have  always  been  a  great 
trouble  to  me.  Of  all  clumsy  and  unsanitary  ar- 
rangements for  sleeping  when  one  is  obliged  to 
sleep  with  four  or  five  others  in  a  small  room,  or- 
dinary bedsteads  seem  to  me  the  worst.  Now  in 
order  to  introduce  all  the  improvements  that  I 
want,  I  am  obliged  to  economize  space.  The  peo- 
ple must  be  crowded  together,  there  is  no  other 
way  out  of  that ;  so,  for  the  children,  I  mean  to  put 
up  single  beds,  berth  -  fashion,  over  each  other. 
Strong  iron  sockets  fastened  to  the  wall  will  hold 
an  iron  frame  on  which  a  little  mattress  with  bed- 
clothes will  be  strapped.  In  the  daytime  these 
will  be  turned  up,  one  under  the  other,  and  hooked 
against  the  wall,  out  of  the  way,  and  a  neat  little 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          143 

curtain  fastened  to  the  tipper  one  will  hang  down 
and  conceal  both  as  if  they  were  a  set  of  hanging 
shelves.  At  night  the  youngster  in  the  upper 
berth  will  be  protected  from  all  danger  of  falling 
out  by  two  or  three  leather  straps  fastened  on  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  berth  and  hooked  firmly  to 
the  lower  edge  of  the  framework.  I  have  thought 
all  the  details  out  one  by  one  as  various  objections 
were  made  to  my  scheme. 

I  think  this  plan  a  fine  solution  for  the  dirt  and 
vermin  question.  Besides,  the  mattresses,  being 
so  small,  could  be  very  much  more  easily  aired  and 
turned  than  if  they  were  larger.  But  an  agent, 
to  whom  I  explained  it,  protested,  saying  she 
would  n't  encourage  such  an  idea  at  all.  "  People 
ought  to  live  properly,  in  regular  fashion,  and  not 
get  used  to  putting  up  with  any  such  makeshifts  as 
that.  It  would  n't  be  living  naturally." 

"  You  old  bigot !  "  said  I  inwardly,  "  your  grand- 
mother, I  suppose,  would  have  protested  against 
sleeping-cars  and  elevators  and  dumb-waiters  as 
being  unnatural  and  artificial !  " 

I  am  amazed  every  day  to  see,  how  densely 
stupid  some  sensible  people  are.  I  know  a  French- 
woman who  has  always  slept  at  home  on  a  bed  four 
feet  high,  canopied  and  enshrouded  with  curtains. 
It  is  half  a  day's  work  to  make  it,  and  she  feels  out 
in  the  cold  and  all  forlorn  when  put  into  one  of 
our  little,  open,  low,  brass  bedsteads.  I  suppose 
she  would  think  it  quite  as  unhomelike  and  as  de- 
moralizing in  its  tendency  as  my  agent  thought  my 
berth  beds  would  be. 


144         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

The  other  day  I  explained  the  idea  to  a  poor 
woman  in  a  tenement  house,  who  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  was  trying  to  sweep  under  two  good-sized 
bedsteads  in  a  tiny  room.  At  first  she  did  not  seem 
to  comprehend,  but  when  she  did,  she  smiled  and 
nodded  and  said,  "  I  like  that,  Mees  ;  easy  to  sweep ; 
children  no  kick  each  other  all  time  ;  my  children 
sleep  four  in  one  bed  —  too  much  kick  and  cry." 

I  have  thought  of  another  thing,  that  is,  of  hav- 
ing low,  stationary  settees  made  in  suitable  places 
against  the  wall,  and  having  the  seat  a  cover  which 
would  turn  up  on  hinges,  showing  space  underneath 
where  clothes  and  all  sorts  of  things  could  be  kept 
out  of  sight,  instead  of  being  put  into  trunks  or 
left  to  lie  around  in  an  untidy  way.  I  shall  have 
no  closets,  as  I  find  that  space  can  be  better  saved 
and  cleanliness  more  readily  enforced  by  building 
stationary  wardrobes,  each  with  a  drawer  under- 
neath and  shelves  above  extending  to  the  ceiling. 
Closets,  I  find,  are  rarely  swept. 

On  these  shelves,  which  can  be  protected  by  a  cur- 
tain, things  not  in  frequent  use  can  be  laid  away, 
and  every  inch  of  space  to  the  ceiling  utilized.  I 
know  you  will  not  approve  of  this.  You  think 
closets  are  a  sine  qua  non ;  all  of  which  is  well 
enough  if  you  are  dealing  with  people  who  are  sure 
to  keep  them  swept  clean,  and  where  room  is  not  so 
precious.  But  in  this  case  I  am  planning  to  econ- 
omize space  to  the  utmost,  and  at  the  same  time 
give  the  number  of  hooks  for  hanging  clothes  that 
there  is  in  the  ordinary  closet. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         145 

The  rooms  are  to  be  only  seven  feet  high,  thereby 
saving  much  space  and  making  it  possible  for  me 
to  put  on  another  story  to  the  building.  Without 
this,  by  the  closest  planning,  I  could  not  afford  all 
the  conveniences  that  I  want  and  get  my  four  per 
cent,  interest,  which,  for  the  success  of  the  experi- 
ment, I  feel  bound  to  make. 

Of  course  these  low-studded  rooms  would  give 
too  little  air  were  it  not  that  I  have  taken  extraor- 
dinary pains  about  the  ventilation.  I  have  been 
using  all  my  feminine  ingenuity  to  devise  all  possi- 
ble means  to  provide  the  greatest  amount  of  com- 
fort and  convenience  for  the  smallest  possible 
amount  of  money  and  space.  Understand  that  I 
am  aiming  to  provide  a  decent  home  for  the  very 
poorest,  who  cannot  afford  to  pay  more  than  five 
dollars  a  month  for  rent.  I  mean  to  give  them  as 
much  room  as  they  have  now  in  their  dirty,  dark 
alleys  and  attics,  and  in  addition  to  that,  warmth, 
pure  air,  cleanliness,  and  the  saving  of  countless 
steps. 

I  find  my  architects  strangely  unsuggestive  about 
all  this  ;  they  have  not  enough  imagination  to  put 
themselves  in  the  place  of  a  tired  ignorant  woman 
who  has  to  spend  all  her  life  in  two  rooms  with  her 
husband  and  four  or  five  untidy,  restless  children. 

Knowing  how  much  afraid  of  the  dark  many  of 
my  North  End  people  used  to  be,  and  remember- 
ing how  they  used  to  keep  a  lamp  burning  all 
night  in  their  sleeping-rooms,  where  the  windows 
were  shut  tight,  I  have  planned  to  have  the  upper 


146         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

eight  inches  of  the  walls  of  the  room  bordering  on 
the  hall,  of  glass,  which  can  be  opened  like  a  tran- 
som, to  admit  air  and  much  light  at  night  from  the 
lights  in  the  hall,  which  I  shall  myself  provide.  I 
mean  also  to  have  in  every  room,  fastened  against 
the  wall,  a  stationary  table  that  can  be  put  up  or  let 
down  like  an  ordinary  table-leaf. 

I  am  going  to  have  some  experienced  woman 
oversee  all  these  little  details,  for  I  never  yet  saw 
a  builder  who  could  not  learn  a  great  deal  from  a 
practical  housekeeper. 

In  the  basement  there  are  to  be  bath-rooms  and 
a  barber's  shop,  while  in  some  part  of  the  building 
I  shall  have  a  large  room  which  can  be  divided  by 
sliding-doors.  One  part  shall  be  a  nursery,  where 
mothers  who  want  to  go  out  can  leave  their  chil- 
dren in  good  charge  for  a  trifling  fee,  and  the  other 
half  of  the  room  shall  be  used  as  a  kindergarten. 

In  the  evening  these  rooms  will  be  occupied  by 
the  grown  people  for  club  meetings  and  a  reading- 
room.  When  desired,  both  rooms  can  be  thrown 
together  for  a  lecture  or  entertainment. 

I  have  in  mind  sewing  schools  and  gymnastic 
classes  and  all  sorts  of  good  things,  for  which  this 
will  be  the  centre. 

I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that  the  quickest 
way  to  revolutionize  whatever  needs  revolutionizing 
in  this  world  is  to  get  at  the  hearts  and  souls  of 
people.  Open  a  man's  heart,  give  him  an  idea,  in 
other  words,  convert  him,  and  self-respect,  industry, 
and  good  manners  will  soon  appear. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         147 

I  think  I  have  found  just  the  right  man  and 
woman  to  help  me  make  iny  scheme  feasible.  They 
are  a  couple  about  fifty  years  old,  Pennsylvania 
Quakers,  whose  daughter  has  just  been  graduated 
from  Professor  Adler's  kindergarten  training-school, 
and  who  is  bubbling  over  with  zeal  to  begin  her 
work.  All  three  are  to  live  in  the  building  and 
give  their  whole  time  to  the  work  that  may  be 
needed,  each  one  having  his  or  her  separate  depart- 
ment to  attend  to,  and  being  responsible  for  every- 
thing in  that  department.  For  all  this  a  good 
salary  will  be  paid  to  each  of  the  three. 

I  have  found  that  my  original  plan  has  grown 
on  my  hands,  and  as  it  is  often  easier  to  do  a  thing 
on  a  large  scale  than  on  a  small  one,  I  have  decided 
to  put  up  four  large  buildings  around  a  hollow 
square,  each  one  to  contain  one  hundred  sets  of 
tenements  of  from  one  to  four  rooms.  Each  house 
will  accommodate  perhaps  four  or  five  hundred 
people.  Most  of  the  suites  will  contain  two  rooms 
suitable  for  a  family  of  four.  But  I  shall  have 
also  many  single  rooms  for  bachelors,  there  being  a 
good  demand  for  them,  I  find. 

You  know  my  enthusiasm  for  our  Puritan  his- 
tory. Behold  my  opportunity  to  indulge  my  taste 
in  that  direction  !  I  am  going  to  christen  these 
hobbies  of  mine,  so  long  a  dream,  now  so  soon  to 
be  materialized,  by  bestowing  upon  them  some 
good  old  names  that  ought  never  to  be  forgotten. 
These  four  are  to  be  called  the  "  Pilgrim  Homes." 
One  will  be  named  Scrooby,  another  Leyden,  one 


148         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Plymouth,  and  one  the  Mayflower.  If  these  prove 
successful  I  shall  have  four  more,  named  Bradford, 
Brewster,  Carver,  and  Winslow.  However,  I  must 
not  romance,  for  that  perhaps  will  be  far  in  the 
future. 

You  have  no  idea  of  the  endless  details  I  have 
had  to  consider.  I  have  been  over  every  single 
model  tenement  I  could  find  in  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  which  is  not  saying  much,  for  there  are 
not  many.  Now,  although  not  a  stone  is  yet  laid, 
I  feel  as  if  a  load  had  rolled  off  my  shoulders  and 
the  thing  were  nearly  complete. 

I  shall  watch  with  the  greatest  anxiety  the  out- 
come of  this  experiment.  If  it  can  be  shown,  as  I 
think  it  can,  that  the  lowest  poor  can  be  comfortably 
housed  at  the  prices  which  they  now  pay  for  their 
wretched  slums,  and  if  it  can  be  demonstrated,  as 
I  think  it  can,  that  health  and  happiness  increase 
and  vice  decreases  in  proportion  to  the  opportunity 
which  is  offered  for  decent  living,  then  I  shall  be 
ready  to  devote  a  goodly  number  of  my  millions  to 
what  seems  to  me  about  the  best  use  that  can  be 
made  of  them. 

As  soon  as  it  can  be  fully  proved  just  what  needs 
to  be  done,  if  a  state  or  city  loan  can  be  obtained, 
I  mean  to  try  to  persuade  some  of  these  wealthy 
men  and  women  whom  I  have  been  meeting  of  late 
to  join  with  me  and  engage  in  the  work  of  tenement- 
house  reform  on  a  gigantic  scale.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  the  crying  evils  which  now  exist  should 
be  perpetuated  another  year.  Since  planning  all 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          149 

this  I  have  been  greatly  interested  to  learn  of  what 
Glasgow  has  recently  been  doing  in  this  direction  ; 
buying  up  and  destroying  a  mass  of  vile  old  rook- 
eries, and  building  sanitary  homes  for  the  poor  in 
place  of  them. 

There  is  money  enough,  brains  enough,  and  good 
will  enough  in  this  city  to  abolish  these  hideous 
conditions  of  life  by  which  thousands  of  lives  are 
wrecked  every  year.  I  am  very  doubtful  about 
much  state  socialism;  but  municipal  socialism  to 
this  extent  seems  to  me  the  only  rational  thing  in 
view  of  the  present  evils.  A  century  hence  we 
shall  look  back  with  wonder  that  our  mania  for  in- 
dividualism and  dread  of  governmental  interference 
should  have  led  us  to  tolerate  these  things  a  day. 
I  was  never  more  convinced  of  anything  than  of 
this,  and  never  more  terribly  in  earnest  about  any- 
thing in  my  life.  Meanwhile  my  agents  are  buying 
up  and  cleansing  some  of  the  worst  old  tenement 
houses  in  the  city,  and  I  am  searching  in  every  di- 
rection for  the  right  person  to  put  in  charge  of 
them.  I  find  that  this  is  the  most  important  feature 
of  it  all.  There  must  be  constant,  tireless  super- 
vision, and  I  find  that  it  really  pays  to  give  one 
good  tenant  his  rent  free  on  condition  that  he  keep 
the  building  clean  and  orderly.  He  must,  of  course, 
be  one  who  has  enough  moral  power  to  enforce 
all  necessary  rules. 

These  details  must  sound  very  prosaic  to  you, 
I  fear,  in  comparison  with  all  the  delightful  things 
which  you  are  studying ;  but  just  at  present  I  am 


150         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

finding  the  subject  of  dumb-waiters  and  ash-shoots 
quite  as  fascinating  as  I  ever  used  to  find  Correg- 
gios  or  cryptogamia. 

By  the  way,  I  am  going  to  see  a  beautiful  pri- 
vate car  which  is  to  be  sold.  I  am  thinking  of  buy- 
ing it  and  taking  aunt  Madison  and  some  delightful 
people  whom  I  know  on  a  trip  to  the  Yellowstone 
Park  and  Puget  Sound  this  summer.  What  do 
you  say  to  joining  us  ?  By  the  time  you  have  fin- 
ished at  the  Annex  you  will  be  ready  to  drop,  and 
will  be  quite  unfit  to  think  of  getting  up  your 
trousseau.  Tell  that  impatient  young  professor 
that  he  must  wait  for  three  months,  and  give  you  a 
chance  to  know  how  sweet  it  is  to  get  a  love-letter 
when  it  comes  three  thousand  miles.  .  .  . 

FIFTH  AVENUE  HOTEL,  NEW  YORK,  Apr.  10. 

To  CHAS.  W.  TURNER,  ESQ.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Dear  /Sir,  —  Your  letter  has  come  to  hand  with 
the  inclosed  deed  for  the  eight  lots  on  Huntington 
Avenue,  each  twenty-three  by  one  hundred  feet. 

I  will  now  write  you  in  detail  about  the  build- 
ings which  I  wish  to  put  upon  those  lots.  I  want 
you  to  understand  my  plans  exactly,  together  with 
my  reasons  for  them,  as  I  shall  ask  you  to  take  the 
responsibility  of  carrying  them  out. 

I  want  to  try  an  experiment  that  I  have  long 
had  in  mind.  I  hope  to  have  it  pay  a  fair  per 
cent,  and  at  the  same  time  serve  as  a  hint  toward 
the  solution  of  some  of  the  difficulties  in  the  prob- 
lems of  modern  housekeeping. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         151 

For  the  last  twenty  years  we  have  been  blunder- 
ing our  way  toward  better  methods  of  meeting  the 
exigencies  of  our  modern  city  life,  but  with  indif- 
ferent success. 

However,  one  thing  is  certain.  In  our  great 
cities,  where  land  is  growing  more  and  more  expen- 
sive, and  where  people  are  swarming  in  constantly 
increasing  numbers,  building  their  houses  higher 
and  higher  into  the  air,  something  must  be  done  to 
readjust  the  methods  of  living,  if  life  is  to  remain 
anything  but  drudgery  to  a  large  majority  of  wives 
and  mothers. 

The  modern  system  of  "  flats  "  is  a  step  in  the 
right  direction,  but  thus  far  it  has  meant  cramped 
quarters,  great  expense,  and  many  disadvantages, 
and  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  a  long  way  from 
being  the  city  home  of  the  future. 

What  I  propose  is  to  put  up  some  houses  where 
all  the  rooms  in  each  suite  of  apartments  shall  be 
on  the  same  floor,  but  which  shall  in  no  other  par- 
ticular resemble  any  "  flats  "  that  I  have  seen. 

I  have  found  none  where  the  rooms  were  spa- 
cious and  all  directly  lighted  and  ventilated  from 
the  outer  air,  unless  they  were  at  a  price  quite  be- 
yond the  income  of  a  man  who  must  live  on  three 
thousand  dollars'  salary.  Even  the  best  I  have 
seen,  although  they  are  elegantly  frescoed  and  fin- 
ished, are  sure  to  have  some  small  dark  rooms,  and 
give  much  less  good  space  for  living  purposes  than 
a  house  bearing  the  same  rental. 

Now  I  think  there  is  no  reason  for  this,  —  that 


152         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

is  to  say,  no  necessary  reason ;  nothing  more  in 
fact  than  that  the  demand  for  "  flats  "  exceeds  the 
supply,  and  landlords  make  more  on  an  investment 
in  that  direction. 

The  never  ceasing  trouble  with  servants,  the  bur- 
den of  entertaining  company,  the  fearful  strain  of 
the  stairs  incident  to  living  in  a  house  where  there 
are  only  two  good  rooms  on  a  floor,  —  all  these  and 
other  things  are  more  and  more  compelling  people 
of  moderate  means  either  to  board  or  live  in  a 
"flat,"  where  one  servant  can  do  the  work  for 
which,  in  an  ordinary  house,  two  would  be  re- 
quired. 

I  think  the  continual  increase  of  boarding-houses 
marks  a  sign  of  decadence  in  American  social  and 
home  life,  and  yet  I  do  not  blame  delicate  women 
for  longing  for  freedom  from  the  details  of  work, 
which  is  often  done  at  a  great  disadvantage,  and  for 
immunity  from  the  back-breaking  stairs  and  other 
things  that  are  the  cause  of  so  much  invalidism. 

Seeing  these  domestic  problems  and  the  wear 
and  tear  of  the  nervous  system  contingent  on  the 
ordinary  methods  of  city  housekeeping,  I  have  de- 
termined to  try  in  this  experiment  to  see  if  for  a 
moderate  cost,  say  nine  or  ten  hundred  dollars 
rental,  it  may  not  be  possible  to  supply  a  family 
with  twelve  good-sized  rooms  all  on  one  floor,  and 
with  the  back  yard  of  a  size  which  is  usual  to  an 
ordinary  house. 

One  great  objection  to  the  ordinary  flat  is  the 
absence  of  a  back  yard  where  clothes  can  be  dried, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         153 

and  children  can  play.  Families  with  children  find 
but  little  freedom  and  comfort  in  the  ordinary  flat, 
and  I  propose  to  remedy  this  in  the  simplest  way 
in  the  world,  —  at  least,  it  seems  perfectly  simple 
and  feasible  to  me.  If  the  architect  you  engage 
makes  any  objections  to  the  scheme,  let  me  know 
what  they  are. 

Taking  the  eight  lots  which  you  have  purchased, 
each  one  hundred  feet  deep,  let  us  devote  say  sixty 
feet  to  the  back  yards.  This  will  admit  of  flower- 
beds, and  a  little  playground,  a  very  important 
item  with  a  mother  of  young  children.  These  di- 
mensions are  the  same  as  those  of  hundreds  of 
South  End  lots  and  houses. 

Then  there  will  be  left  for  the  building  of  the 
eight  homes  an  area  of  eight  lots,  each  forty  feet 
deep  and  twenty-three  feet  wide. 

According  to  our  ordinary  wasteful  system  in 
the  building  of  houses  vertically  there  would  be 
eight  sets  of  stone  steps,  eight  doors  and  lobbies, 
and  allowing  four  stories  to  each  house,  there  would 
be  four  halls  and  three  staircases,  one  over  the 
other,  in  each  of  the  eight  houses.  Each  hall 
would  involve  more  or  less  expense  in  carpeting, 
much  time  in  sweeping  and  keeping  clean  ;  and  be- 
side, much  physical  energy  would  be  wasted  in  sim- 
ply getting  from  dining-room  to  parlor  and  from 
parlor  to  bedroom. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  instead  of  building  these 
eight  houses  side  by  side  vertically,  like  so  many 
bricks  set  up  on  end,  we  can  do  much  better. 


154         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

We  can  abolish  seven  of  our  doorsteps  and  en- 
trance ways  and  use  one  entrance  for  all,  making 
it  thereby  much  handsomer,  and,  if  we  choose, 
seven  times  more  expensive.  Then  instead  of  eight 
times  three  flights  of  stairs  we  shall  have  simply 
three,  one  over  the  other,  in  a  broad  central  hall 
which  will  run  from  the  street  to  the  back  yard, 
having  four  tenements  on  either  side  of  it,  one  ten- 
ement for  each  story.  The  floors  separating  the 
tenements  will  be  made  as  impervious  to  sound  as 
the  partitions  in  houses  built  in  the  usual  vertical 
fashion.  The  central  hall  can  be  divided  into  two 
parts  :  a  front  hall  containing  a  passenger  elevator 
and  a  handsome  flight  of  stairs,  and  a  back  hall 
with  another  flight  of  stairs  and  another  elevator, 
the  latter  for  servants  and  freight.  With  the 
same  amount  of  money  that  would  have  been  re- 
quired for  building  and  carpeting  the  extra  stairs, 
these  halls  and  staircases  can  be  made  handsomer 
and  absolutely  fireproof.  On  the  top  story,  instead 
of  the  inconvenient  ladder  and  trap-door  leading 
to  the  roof,  which  is  usual  in  our  vertically  built 
tenements,  there  can  be  a  comfortable  staircase, 
covered  at  the  point  where  it  reaches  the  roof  and 
giving  exit  through  a  door  upon  the  roof,  which  can 
be  thoroughly  guarded  by  a  parapet  or  iron  fence, 
thus  affording  a  safe  playground  for  children. 

This  will  cost  something,  of  course,  but  no  more 
I  think  than  would  be  expended  in  the  ordinary, 
wasteful  method  of  building  to  which  we  resort  at 
present. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          155 

Now  perhaps  you  will  say  that  with  the  exception 
of  the  back  yards  this  is  not  different  from  the 
ordinary  apartment  hotel ;  but  wait  a  bit.  What 
I  propose  to  do  is  to  give  to  each  person  a  suite  of 
rooms  equal  in  cubical  contents  to  what  he  would 
have  had  in  his  vertical  four-story  house,  and  I 
shall  arrange  these  rooms  so  that  he  shall  have  a 
frontage  on  the  street,  not  of  twenty-three  feet, 
but  of  ninety-two  feet  minus  ten  feet  which  he  will 
allow  for  the  central  hall.  As  his  neighbor  across 
the  hall  will  have  the  same  frontage  and  also  allow 
ten  feet  for  the  hall,  the  latter,  you  see,  will  be  a 
spacious  apartment  twenty  feet  in  width. 

Think  of  a  flat  having  eighty-two  feet  of  front, 
and  with  a  set  of  four  back  yards  at  the  rear  of 
each  home,  which  is  an  area  of  sixty  by  eighty-two 
feet !  To  be  sure  each  one  cannot  use  all  that  area. 
Pie  will  have  only  one  fourth  of  it  for  his  special 
use,  but  it  will  be  worth  something  to  have  all  that 
space  ostensibly  his  own,  and  the  outlook  a  little 
different  from  each  room. 

Of  course  your  first  question  will  be  as  to  how 
these  yards  are  to  be  reached. 

My  first  purpose  is  to  have  these  eight  families 
who  dwell  under  the  same  roof  use  nothing  but 
their  halls  and  staircases  in  common.  So  in  the 
basement  each  family  shall  have  a  space  at  the  rear 
of  the  house,  twenty-three  feet  in  width,  each  hav- 
ing its  own  exit  into  its  own  yard  from  the  laundry 
and  store-rooms  which  will  be  situated  there.  In 
the  front  part  of  the  basement,  where  in  the  aver- 


156         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

age  Boston  house  the  coal  and  furnace  are  usually 
found,  will  be  the  heating  appliances  for  the  whole 
building,  and  heat  will  be  provided  in  the  different 
stories  as  it  is  in  the  ordinary  hotel. 

There  will  be  speaking-tubes,  of  course,  connect- 
ing each  laundry  with  its  kitchen  above,  so  that 
the  mistress  on  the  fourth  floor  can  communicate 
with  her  Bridget  in  the  laundry,  and  the  only  dis- 
advantage will  be  that  once  a  week  the  Bridget 
living  on  the  top  story  will  have  to  descend  four 
flights  in  the  elevator  to  reach  her  laundry  instead 
of  running  down  one  flight  of  stairs,  as  she  would 
do  in  the  house  of  the  ordinary  type. 

Although  I  prefer  to  leave  the  arrangement  of 
rooms  in  the  suites  to  the  taste  of  the  architect,  I 
will  inclose  a  plan  —  the  simplest  possible  one 
which,  so  far  as  I  know,  will  be  thoroughly  con- 
venient. The  only  objection  to  it  that  I  can  dis- 
cover is,  that  it  is  rather  stiff  and  monotonous  ;  but, 
as  the  same  thing  must  be  said  of  our  houses  as  at 
present  constructed,  I  do  not  think  this  a  very  for- 
midable objection.  However,  I  send  a  second  plan, 
which  will  show  how  it  is  possible  to  introduce  con- 
siderable variety  in  the  arrangement  of  rooms.  In 
this,  as  you  see,  the  parlor  is  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  hall,  and  is  thirty-eight  feet  long,  being  lighted 
at  both  ends.  If  it  should  be  thought  best,  half  of 
the  suites,  i.  e.,  the  four  on  one  side  of  the  hall, 
can  be  built  after  this  second  plan. 

The  central  passage  -  way  running  between  the 
rooms  in  each  suite  will  receive  light  through  tran- 


5 

_ 

1 

K 

,r/xw/  1 

r 

^ 

Hi 

1 

|— 

1 

V 

MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.         157 

soms  and  glass  doors,  and  will  be  lighter  than  the 
halls  in  the  average  city  house. 

As  the  kitchen  does  not  communicate  with  this 
central  passage-way,  the  odors  of  cooking  will  not 
be  so  likely  to  permeate  the  house  as  they  usually 
do  in  the  average  Boston  house  with  a  basement 
dining-room. 

If  I  have  made  myself  clear,  I  think  you  will 
see  that,  according  to  this  extremely  simple  plan 
of  construction,  the  chief  advantages  of  the  aver- 
age flat  and  the  average  separate  block  house  may 
be  combined,  and  the  disadvantages  of  each  nearly 
eliminated. 

The  care  of  the  sidewalk,  stairs,  central  hall,  and 
the  management  of  the  heating  apparatus,  will  be 
in  the  charge  of  a  janitor,  as  is  customary  in  the 
ordinary  apartment  hotel,  thus  almost  doing  away 
with  the  work  of  one  servant  in  each  family.  In 
addition  to  the  great  advantage  of  having  all  the 
rooms  on  one  floor,  these  rooms  will  be  larger  and 
more  airy  than  in  the  ordinary  block  house.  Then, 
too,  they  will  not  only  be  more  in  number  than 
those  in  the  average  flat,  but  they  will  be  more 
than  in  the  vertical  house  of  the  same  cubical  con- 
tents. For  the  space  heretofore  devoted  to  stairs 
can  now  be  utilized  for  living-rooms,  and  by  simply 
opening  the  doors  and  windows  a  draught  of  air 
can  sweep  straight  through  from  front  to  back  of 
the  house.  There  will  be  neither  dark  rooms  nor 
rooms  opening  into  a  dismal  brick  air-well,  as  in 
most  of  our  modern  flats,  and,  consequently,  none 


158         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

of  that  cramped,  confined  feeling  that  one  always 
experiences  when  going  into  their  tiny  rooms  which 
seem  designed  for  a  family  of  three  members  only, 
and  where  children  have  no  right  to  be. 

Now  I  propose  to  offer  this  horizontal  dwelling, 
with  its  eighty-two  feet  front,  and  its  yard  at  the 
back,  with  all  its  economy  of  space  and  expense 
and  physical  exertion,  for  precisely  the  same  rental 
that  the  vertical  house  with  its  twenty-three  feet  of 
front  would  cost. 

And,  as  I  want  permanent  tenants,  and  desire  to 
make  them  practically  the  same  offer  as  a  sale  of 
the  property  would  be,  you  may  give,  to  any  one 
who  desires  it,  a  lease  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

Doubtless  before  that  time  has  expired  we  shall 
come  to  see  that  our  methods  of  living  must  be 
modified  still  more,  and  separate  kitchens  and  laun- 
dries will  be  relegated  to  the  country,  while  some 
system  of  cooperation  will  come  into  vogue  in  our 
cities.  If  so,  such  a  house  as  I  propose  to  build  can 
be  easily  modified  to  suit  the  new  order  of  things. 
The  kitchens  above  could  be  metamorphosed  into 
bedrooms,  and  part  of  the  space  in  the  basement 
turned  into  a  cooking  centre  for  all  the  families. 

If  this  experiment  should  prove  a  success,  — 
and  I  can  see  no  reason  now  why  it  should  not,  — 
this  will  be  but  the  beginning  of  what  I  intend  to 
do  on  a  large  scale.  I  think  I  can  do  no  better 
service  for  the  hurried,  overworked  wives  and  moth- 
ers of  our  great  cities,  than  to  simplify  and  lighten 
the  burdens  of  housekeeping,  by  adding  to  their 
comfort  without  adding  to  their  expense. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         159 

I  want  very  little  frescoing  and  gilding  in  these 
houses,  but  there  must  be  fire-escapes  at  the  rear, 
and  every  device  for  convenience  that  is  available. 

In  regard  to  their  outward  appearance  I  have 
but  one  suggestion  to  make.  I  should  like  to  have 
the  windows  very  broad  and  very  low.  It  has  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  ridiculous  to  note  the  pains 
which  is  taken  to  cut  a  hole  in  the  wall  and  then 
immediately  cover  up  two  thirds  of  it  in  the  most 
elaborate  manner  with  lambrequins  and  two  or 
three  sets  of  curtains,  all  of  which  are  never  raised 
above  the  middle  sash  except  when  the  servant 
washes  the  glass.  If  it  is  desirable  to  admit  a  little 
subdued  light  near  the  top  of  the  room,  this  might 
be  done  by  a  few  panes  of  stained  or  ground  glass, 
which  would  not  be  covered  by  a  curtain.  On  the 
exterior  the  bricks  or  stone,  arranged  in  the  form 
of  an  arch  over  each  window,  would  add  much  to 
the  beauty  of  effect. 

If  a  window  were  five  feet  wide  by  three  and  a 
half  high,  the  top  being  no  more  than  six  and  a 
half  feet  from  the  floor,  the  curtain  question  would 
be  somewhat  simplified  and  our  rooms  made  sun- 
nier and  more  beautiful.  However,  I  leave  this  to 
the  architect  to  decide. 

You  will,  I  think,  get  my  idea  from  the  accom- 
panying sketches. 

Yours  sincerely, 

MILDBED  BREWSTEE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

In  achieving  spiritual  emancipation  the  mind  must  pass  from 
prescription  to  conscious  reason,  from  mere  faith  to  knowledge. 
There  must  be  nothing  lost  in  the  transition,  only  a  gain  in  the 
form  of  science  to  what  was  before  held  in  the  form  of  faith  and 
tradition.  But  this  transition  is  the  most  painful  one  in  history, 
although  its  results  are  the  most  glorious.  —  WM.  T.  HARRIS, 
LL.  D. 

ONE  evening  Mildred  and  I  had  prepared  for 
bed,  and  in  our  dressing-gowns  were  sitting  cosily 
before  our  open  wood  fire,  watching  the  flames 
dance  and  flicker  and  cast  weird  shadows  on  the 
wall.  It  had  been  a  hard  day,  the  morning  having 
been  spent  in  writing  and  dictation  and  in  examin- 
ing a  half  bushel  of  mail  matter  ;  the  afternoon  we 
had  spent  in  visiting  tenement  houses  and  indus- 
trial schools  in  Brooklyn. 

After  dinner,  however,  I  had  beguiled  Mildred 
into  a  merry  hour  over  some  dashing  Schubert 
duets,  for  music  never  failed  to  rest  and  soothe  her. 
Then,  turning  the  lights  down  and  drawing  the  tete- 
a-tete  before  the  red  glow  of  the  firelight,  we  fell  to 
talking,  indulging  in  many  reminiscences  of  child- 
ish pranks  and  schoolgirl  sentimentality. 

I  had  been  bred  outside  of  New  England,  and 
our  lives  had  been  wholly  unlike.  Perhaps  it  was 
because  we  were  so  very  unlike  in  many  things 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         1G1 

that  we  were  more  and  more  drawn  to  each  other 
day  by  day,  finding  ever  new  delight  in  exploring 
each  other's  history  and  thoughts. 

I  had  seen  more  of  the  world,  in  a  certain  way, 
than  Mildred,  —  that  is,  more  of  society,  in  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  and  Washington.  The  lei- 
surely, easy-going  life  of  a  people  to  whom  New 
England  ideas  and  "  isms  "  were  unknown  had  been 
the  limits  of  my  social,  and  Presbyterianism  and 
Episcopacy  the  limits  of  my  spiritual,  horizon.  I 
had  scarcely  dreamed  of  the  existence  of  any  other 
way  of  looking  at  life  among  people  in  good  society. 

A  brisk  canter  on  my  red  roan,  with  a  gay  com- 
pany of  young  people,  a  good  dinner  party,  plenty 
of  bouquets  and  dancing  and  young  men,  with  now 
and  then  a  would-be-serious  talk  with  some  of  the 
more  studiously-minded  of  them  apropos  of  Ger- 
man poetry  or  Victor  Hugo,  —  this  life  I  had 
known  all  about,  and  but  little  of  any  other. 

However,  eight  months  previously,  when  reverses 
of  fortune  had  cast  my  fate  in  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, among  a  family  of  Unitarians  who  had 
been  old-time  abolitionists,  and  were  now  woman 
suffragists  and  zealous  reformers  in  every  direction, 
my  conception  of  life  had  enlarged  a  little,  and  I 
was  prepared  not  to  be  amazed  at  this  radical, 
bookish  Boston  girl  who  upset  all  my  previous  theo- 
ries of  what  a  charming  woman  should  be. 

She  was  charming ;  no  one  who  had  seen  her 
sitting  there,  in  her  loose  gown  of  a  delicate  rose 
color,  her  dark  wavy  hair  falling  around  her  shoul- 


162         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

ders  as  she  gazed  steadily  into  the  glowing  embers, 
her  fine  features  outlined  by  the  firelight,  but 
would  have  thought  her  so.  We  had  been  laugh- 
ing heartily  over  some  droll  accounts  of  my  first 
New  England  experiences  and  the  horror  which  I 
had  aroused  in  some  precise  old  maids  by  my  fri- 
volity, while  I  had  been  equally  horrified  by  their 
radical  theology.  I  thought  that  it  was  wicked  for 
them  to  read  Renan,  and  they  thought  it  sinful  for 
me  to  wear  French  corsets  and  moderately  high 
heels. 

After  a  time  Mildred  and  I  began  to  talk  of  love 
and  lovers,  as  girls  will.  I  say  "  girls,"  though  I 
was  six  -  and  -  twenty  and  she  my  senior.  But  in 
New  England,  where  late  marriages  are  the  rule 
and  not  the  exception,  the  term  "  girls,"  as  I  have 
discovered,  has  an  indefinite  application. 

"  Mildred,  were  you  never  in  love  ?  "  I  asked. 

I  shouldn't  have  dared  quite  so  much  as  that, 
only  somehow  she  had  invited  my  confidence,  and  I 
had  told  her  all  about  my  love  affairs.  I  could  n't 
tell  whether  she  blushed  or  not,  for  the  firelight 
glowed  on  her  face.  At  first  I  thought  that  she 
was  offended,  for  she  waited  a  minute  before  she 
answered,  and  we  listened  to  the  rain  coming  in 
great  gusts  against  the  window  pane,  and  the  omni- 
buses rattling  over  the  paved  street  below. 

Mildred  nestled  a  little  closer  to  the  fire  and  ad- 
justed her  cushions.  Then  she  said  slowly,  as  she 
stretched  out  her  slender  fingers  before  the  blaze, 
"  Why,  yes,  I  suppose  I  really  was  in  love,  though 
I  did  n't  know  it  at  the  time." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          163 

"Good  heavens,  Mildred,  not  with  Mr.  Dun- 
reath !  "  I  cried ;  "  you  told  me  you  never  really 
cared  for  him." 

"  No,  not  with  Mr.  Dunreath,"  replied  Mildred 
quickly,  and  throwing  her  head  back  she  clasped 
her  hands  over  her  knee,  swaying  back  and  forth 
in  the  firelight.  Then  she  stopped  again.  I  asked 
no  more  questions,  for  there  was  a  look  in  her  eyes 
and  a  droop  to  the  sensitive  mouth  which  meant  I 
knew  not  what.  Was  it  possible  that  this  woman, 
who  seemed  so  enthusiastically  absorbed  in  her 
plans  and  so  cheerful  and  gay,  was  really  carrying 
about  with  her  a  secret  heart-ache  ?  I  had  watched 
her  curiously  as  we  had  been  in  society  together, 
and  had  been  amused  at  her  absolute  lack  of  co- 
quetry and  matter-of-fact  way  of  talking  with  gen- 
tlemen, and,  on  the  other  hand,  at  her  semi-con- 
sciousness that  she  must  try  not  to  say  too  much 
about  her  theories  and  hobbies,  and  to  "  learn  to 
talk  small  talk,"  as  she  said.  I,  who  had  had  my 
fill  of  small  talk,  and  whom  the  late  years  were  be- 
ginning to  teach  some  serious  lessons,  liked  much 
better  her  simplicity  and  unusual  earnestness  about 
things.  Her  bookishness,  too,  which  at  first  I  had 
rather  dreaded,  did  not  mean  pedantry  or  dullness. 
She  had  read  but  few  books,  she  told  me ;  far  less 
than  I.  She  once  showed  me  in  her  diary  her  list 
of  books  for  the  past  year.  There  were  only  six  : 
Plato's  "  Republic,"  "  Wilhelm  Meister,"  Stan- 
ley's "  History  of  the  Jews,"  Thackeray's  "  New- 
comes,"  Henry  George's  "  Progress  and  Poverty," 
and  a  volume  of  Fichte, 


164         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  I  like  to  be  acquainted  with  the  best  people," 
she  once  said ;  "  there  is  no  reason  why  one  should 
put  up  with  the  second-rate  ones  when  one  can 
have  the  best." 

"  But  it  is  not  every  one  who  can  get  the  best  so- 
ciety," said  I,  not  understanding  in  the  least  what 
she  meant. 

"  Every  one  who  can  read  can  have  the  best 
friends  of  all  ages,"  she  replied.  And  they  were 
her  friends.  But  I  am  digressing. 

"  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it,"  said  Mildred,  with 
her  eyes  still  fixed  on  the  coals.  "  There  is  no  rea- 
son why  I  should  not,  though  I  never  told  any  one 
before,  and  I  have  hardly  acknowledged  it  to  my- 
self. I  think  I  was  in  love ;  yes,  I  think  I  really 
was  —  in  love. 

"  It  happened  in  this  way.  I  had  gone  down  to 
the  Fitchburg  station  to  take  the  early  morning 
train  for  Concord.  By  the  way,  were  you  ever  at 
Concord  ?  "  she  asked  abruptly. 

"  What  ?  "  I  answered,  "  Concord,  New  Hamp- 
shire ?  " 

"  No,  our  own  Massachusetts  Concord ;  the  Con- 
cord of  Emerson  and  Hawthorne  and  Thoreau  and 
the  Alcotts.  I  had  been  there  but  once  before,  but 
since  that  time  it  has  been  a  sort  of  Mecca  of  mine, 
and  I  have  made  many  a  pilgrimage  there. 

"  I  was  going  out  to  the  Concord  School  of  Phi- 
losophy, not,  however,  for  any  special  reason.  I 
did  n't  know  and  did  n't  care  to  know  anything 
about  philosophy,  but  I  thought  it  might  be  fun  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         165 

see  for  once  the  long-haired  men  and  short-haired 
women  congregate  and  talk,  as  the  papers  said, 
about  the  '  thisness  of  the  then  and  the  whichness 
of  the  where.'  Besides,  I  wanted  to  visit  Haw- 
thorne's grave.  I  was  full  of  his  romances  then. 

"At  the  station  I  met  my  bosom-friend  Julia 
Mason.  '  How  fortunate ! '  she  exclaimed.  '  Here 
is  my  cousin,  bound  for  the  Summer  School,  too. 
You  must  philosophize  together.'  She  introduced 
us  to  each  other,  and  then  hastened  to  take  her 
own  train,  while  the  young  man  and  I  made  our 
way  together  to  the  express  train  for  Concord. 

"  He  pleased  my  fancy  at  once.  I  was  just  at 
the  age  when  a  girl  always  sees  a  possible  lover 
in  every  handsome  young  man  whom  she  chances 
to  know.  Not  that  the  thought  occurred  to  me 
then,  for  he  was  far  from  being  the  ideal  lover 
whom  I  had  dreamed  of  marrying.  My  lover  must 
combine  all  the  graces  of  an  Alcibiades  with  the 
virtues  of  a  Bayard,  a  knight  saws  peur  et  sans 
reproche,  with  classic  features,  curling  locks,  and  a 
voice  and  smile  that  should  melt  the  very  stones." 

"You  matter-of-fact  old  Mildred,"  I  laughed. 
"  To  think  of  your  ever  being  so  romantic  !  " 

She  smiled  a  little  as  she  unclasped  her  hands 
from  her  knee  and  leaned  back. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  I  had  my  dreams  once." 

Then  she  continued : 

"  He  was  older  than  I,  twenty-five,  perhaps  ;  tall, 
broad-shouldered,  a  manly  man  every  inch  of  him  ; 
a  little  clumsy  and  awkward  at  first,  and  lacking 


166         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

in  all  the  manifold  little  attentions  which  girls  like. 
He  did  not  offer  to  carry  my  bag,  I  observed,  and 
he  entered  the  car-door  first.  He  was  certainly 
not  in  the  least  like  the  courteous,  gallant  knight 
of  my  girlish  fancy. 

"  But  presently,  as  he  began  to  talk  in  an  animated 
wajr,  his  frank  blue  eyes  lighted  up  and  lent  to  his 
by  no  means  classic  features  a  wonderful  charm. 
We  got  well  acquainted  on  the  short  journey.  He, 
it  seems,  had,  like  myself,  been  at  Concord  only 
once  before.  It  was  on  that  raw,  cold  day  in  '75, 
when  I,  a  young  school-girl,  with  my  mother,  and 
he  a  Phillips  Academy  boy,  had,  unknown  to  each 
other,  essayed  to  board  the  train  in  that  same 
frightfully  thronged  station,  and  go  to  the  Centen- 
nial celebration. 

"  I  told  him  of  my  droll  experience,  wedged  in 
between  a  dozen  men  and  women  in  the  smoking- 
car.  He,  it  seems,  was  not  so  fortunate  as  I,  for 
he  took  no  lunch,  and,  like  thousands  of  others  who 
could  buy  nothing  for  either  love  or  money,  almost 
starved.  I  told  him  about  our  experience :  how  we 
marched  with  the  women  assembled  at  the  town 
hall,  led  by  a  lady  with  a  little  flag,  around  the 
road  to  the  tent  on  Battle  lawn  ;  how  there  we  were 
nearly  annihilated  by  the  throng,  and  how  at  last 
by  some  good  fortune  I  was  borne  up  to  the  plat- 
form's very  edge,  and  stood  there  within  a  few  feet 
of  Grant  and  all  his  cabinet,  and  with  Curtis,  Emer- 
son, and  Lowell  all  within  arm's  reach. 

"  How  my  heart  beat  at  the  sight  of  those  faces ! 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          167 

I  have  seen  many  famous  sights  since,  but  nothing 
that  ever  stirred  my  blood  like  that,"  said  Mildred, 
with  glowing  eyes.  "  I  was  scarcely  more  than  a 
child,  Ruby,  but  I  stood  there  for  two  mortal 
hours,  unable  to  move  forward  or  backward,  to  right 
or  left,  quivering  from  head  to  foot  with  enthusiasm 
and  excitement.  That  day  my  American  patriot- 
ism was  born.  I  had  studied  a  little  text-book  at 
school,  and  learned  names  and  dates ;  but  not  un- 
til under  the  spell  of  Curtis's  eloquence,  and  face 
to  face  with  the  men  whose  fathers  had  shed  their 
blood  in  the  brave  fight  one  hundred  years  before, 
did  I  begin  to  realize  what  it  all  meant.  I  remem- 
ber particularly  a  little  old  man  with  weather- 
beaten  face,  clad  in  a  simple  suit,  —  his  '  Sunday 
best,'  —  who  stood  beside  me  listening  with  eager, 
upturned  face,  his  blue  eyes  filled  with  unshed 
tears.  I  could  see  his  lips  quiver ;  and  once,  as 
if  carried  away  by  the  fervor  of  his  emotion,  he 
grasped  my  arm  with  his  brown,  withered  hand  and 
whispered  huskily,  '  Little  girl,  when  you  get  as 
old  as  I  be,  you  '11  understand  what  all  this  means.' 

"  Since  then,"  said  Mildred  gravely,  "  the  words 
'  my  country '  have  meant  something  new  to  me. 
A  distinctly  new  idea  took  hold  of  me,  an  idea  that 
some  time  I  hope  to  make  blossom  into  deeds." 

I  confess  I  was  getting  a  little  impatient  for  an 
account  of  the  love-making,  and  this  did  not  sound 
much  like  it.  But  after  musing  a  bit,  Mildred  con- 
tinued : 

"  This  little  experience  which  my  companion  and 


168         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

I  had  in  common  made  us  quickly  acquainted.  He 
frankly  told  me  of  his  college  life  and  of  himself. 
He  had  been  studying  for  the  ministry,  he  said, 
though  whether  he  was  to  be  a  clergyman  or  not  I 
inferred  was  somewhat  doubtful. 

"  We  passed  Walden  Pond,  gleaming  like  silver 
in  the  sunshine,  and  he  talked  of  Thoreau,  whom 
he  seemed  to  know  well,  though  I  had  at  that  time 
read  nothing  of  him.  Presently  we  rolled  up  to 
the  Concord  station,  and  while  a  crowd  of  people 
alighted  and  took  the  '  barge,'  we  went  down  one 
of  the  long,  shady  streets,  bordered  by  tall  hedges 
and  close-clipped  lawns,  with  comfortable,  roomy 
mansions  set  back  from  the  street ;  past  the  little 
gem  of  a  town  library,  on  its  carpet  of  emerald 
green ;  past  the  cluster  of  shops  and  the  cool-plash- 
ing fountain,  and  down  the  famous  old  road  which 
saw  the  redcoats'  flight,  and  which  Hosea  Biglow, 
you  remember,  says  he  '  most  gin' ally  calls  "  John 
BuU's  Run."  ' 

"  Such  a  lovely,  quiet  old  street !  Dear,  you 
must  see  it  some  day  —  with  the  broad,  green 
meadow  lands  on  one  side,  and  the  hill  crowned 
with  trees  and  vines  on  the  other. 

" '  Along  this  ridge  lived  Hawthorne's  Septimius 
Felton,'  said  my  companion. 

"  '  And  here,'  said  I,  as  we  passed  a  tiny  antique 
house  on  the  hillside  with  curtains  drawn,  and  no 
path  through  the  grass  that  surrounded  it,  — '  here, 
I  am  positive,  an  old  witch  with  a  black  cat  must 
have  lived  a  hundred  years  ago,' 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          169 

"  We  jested  and  laughed  as  we  went  merrily  on. 
We  were  young  and  happy  that  brilliant  summer 
morning.  I  remember  how  every  leaf  sparkled  with 
the  heavy  dewdrops,  and  the  air  seemed  to  fairly 
intoxicate  one  like  a  draught  of  wine.  I  was  fairly 
brimming  over  with  delight. 

"  We  passed  the  old-fashioned  white  house  with 
green  blinds,  peeping  out  from  behind  the  pines, 
which  I  needed  no  one  to  tell  me  had  been  the 
home  of  the  Concord  seer ;  and  a  little  further  on 
appeared  the  brown -gabled  house,  nestled  in  a 
green  hollow,  and  guarded  by  giant  elms,  where  the 
Little  Women  lived  their  charming  life.  Just 
within  these  grounds  stood  the  vine-covered  Hill- 
side Chapel,  whither  our  steps  were  tending.  We 
had  passed  little  groups  on .  our  way,  and  now  and 
then  we  caught  a  word  of  what  they  were  saying ; 
'  first  entelechy,'  '  pure  subjectivity,'  the  '  ding  an 
sick?  and  so  on,  which  in  my  hilarious  mood  served 
as  a  further  theme  for  jest. 

"As  we  took  our  seats  beneath  the  bust  of  Pes- 
talozzi  and  beside  the  comfortable  arm-chair  always 
reserved  for  Mrs.  Emerson,  I  scanned  the  audience 
closely.  It  was  not  a  stylish  one,  and  I  felt  a  little 
inclined  to  poke  fun  at  some  of  the  antiquated  bon- 
nets ;  but  my  attention  was  attracted  by  the  evident 
eagerness  with  which  my  new  friend  was  studying 
the  face  of  the  speaker. 

"  He  was  a  middle-aged  man,  with  close-clipped 
gray  beard  and  spectacles,  and  a  face  that  seemed 
to  be  the  very  personification  of  thought.  The 


170          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

subject  of  the  lecture  was  Immortality.  I  listened, 
vainly  trying  to  understand,  and  feeling  as  though 
the  essence  of  a  thousand  books  was  being  crowded 
into  that  quiet  morning's  talk.  I  had  heard  that 
this  man  was  a  German  rationalist,  and  was  under- 
mining the  foundations  of  Christianity  ;  therefore 
I  had  prepared  myself  to  see  a  cynic  or  a  scoffer. 
I  had  thought  that  I  would  go,  for  once,  to  hear 
what  he  had  to  say  ;  just  to  have  an  idea  as  to  what 
it  was  all  about.  I  felt  all  the  excitement  of  doing 
something  a  little  venturesome. 

"  Dear  me,"  laughed  Mildred ;  "  how  droll  it  all 
seems  now,  and  what  an  ignorant  little  bigot  I  must 
have  been ! 

"  I  tried  to  follow  the  speaker  and  to  get  some 
meaning  from  those  quiet,  clear-cut  sentences  as 
they  dropped  from  his  lips,  and  slowly  forced  upon 
my  incredulous  mind  the  conviction  that  here  at 
least  was  one  man  who  spoke  whereof  he  knew.  I 
had  never  done  so  hard  thinking  in  my  life.  He 
was  taking  me  into  a  field  of  thought  of  which  I 
had  never  dreamed,  and  I  was  as  unable  to  follow 
his  giant  strides  as  a  child  to  follow  the  man  in 
seven-league  boots.  My  temples  began  to  throb  ; 
in  despair  I  gave  up  the  attempt,  and  fell  to  watch- 
ing my  companion  as  with  bated  breath  he  followed 
the  speaker.  Only  one  thing  I  remember,  and  that 
because  I  jotted  it  down  on  the  back  of  an  envelope 
at  the  time.  He  said,  '  The  standpoint  of  absolute 
personality  is  the  one  to  be  attained.  On  this 
plane,  freedom,  immortality,  and  God  are  the  regu- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         171 

lative  principles  of  science  as  well  as  of  life  ;  and 
they  are  not  only  matters  of  faith,  but  matters  of 
indubitable  scientific  certainty.' 

"  The  lecture  was  nearly  two  hours  long,  and 
there  was  to  be  a  discussion  following  it  ;  but  we 
were  both  exhausted  with  the  mental  strain,  and 
quietly  slipped  out  into  the  summer  sunshine. 

"  My  companion  said  nothing.  He  walked  with 
head  erect  and  long  strides,  and  I  felt  considerably 
piqued  to  find  that  he  seemed  utterly  oblivious  of 
my  presence.  Presently  he  turned  to  me,  and  in  a 
tone  which  almost  startled  me  exclaimed,  '  Thank 
God  for  that  man !  More  than  any  other  man  liv- 
ing or  dead  has  he  kept  me  from  making  utter 
shipwreck  of  my  faith.'  I  was  surprised  at  his 
earnestness  and  touched  by  the  simple  frankness 
with  which  he  had  revealed  to  me,  almost  an  utter 
stranger,  his  inmost  thoughts. 

"  Again  he  seemed  to  forget  me,  and  we  paced 
on  in  silence,  past  the  fountain,  under  gigantic 
elms,  past  the  'town  toothpick,'  as  the  aesthetic 
scoffers  have  dubbed  the  obelisk  that  commemo- 
rates the  soldiers  of  the  war,  and  turned  down  the 
road  by  Hawthorne's  gray  old  manse  and  through 
the  avenue  of  pines,  to  where,  stretching  across  the 
sluggish  stream,  we  saw  the 

.  .  .  '  bridge  that  arched  the  flood  ' 

where 

'  Once  the  emhattled  farmers  stood, 
And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world.' 

"Here  we  stopped  to  rest  a  while,  under  the 
spreading  boughs  of  a  pine-tree,  beside  the  graves 


172         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

of  the  two  British  soldiers  that  fell  in  the  famous 
fight.  We  shared  our  sandwiches  and  bananas,  and 
threw  crumbs  to  the  saucy  squirrels  that  darted 
from  limb  to  limb  above  our  heads ;  and  then,  like 
two  children,  we  trimmed  our  hats  with  daisies  and 
buttercups  from  the  fields  close  by.  I  watched 
him  closely,  with  the  pleasing  consciousness  that 
my  pretty  dress  and  new  hat  were  noticed  with  evi- 
dent approval  on  his  part.  Evidently  he  was  able 
to  enjoy  some  other  things  as  well  as  philosophy ; 
and  when  he  shook  back  the  thick  blonde  hair 
which  rose  from  his  broad  forehead  in  a  sort  of 
Rubenstein  mane,  and  tossed  over  into  the  fields  a 
great  stone  that  had  fallen  from  the  wall,  I  began 
to  query  whether  a  young  man  with  locks  and 
sinews  like  a  young  Norse  god  might  not  be  a 
very  fascinating  type  of  hero. 

"  But  I  was  curious  to  know  what  he  meant  by 
4  shipwreck  of  his  faith.'  As  we  picked  up  our  va- 
rious belongings  (this  time  I  noted  that  he  asked 
for  my  bag)  and  walked  over  through  the  woods  to 
Sleepy  Hollow  Cemetery,  I  determined  to  probe 
him  a  little. 

" '  Mr.  Everett,'  I  began,  '  don't  you  think,  after 
all,  that  philosophy  is  a  rather  dangerous  thing  for 
one  to  begin  to  study  ?  ' ' 

I  smiled  mischievously  as  Mildred  inadvertently 
disclosed  the  name  which  hitherto  she  had  adroitly 
concealed.  She  flushed  a  little,  as  if  annoyed. 

"  After  all,"  she  said,  "  you  might  as  well  know 
his  name,  for  he  has  gone,  heaven  knows  where, 
and  I  shall  never  see  him  again." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         173 

A  shade  of  sadness  fell  upon  her  face  turned 
toward  the  firelight,  but  she  went  quietly  on : 

"  He  hesitated  a  moment  before  he  answered,  as 
if  mentally  to  adjust  himself  to  my  plane  of  igno- 
rance. Then  he  asked,  '  And  why  dangerous,  Miss 
Brewster  ? ' 

"  '  You  know  what  I  mean,'  said  I,  rather  vexed 
at  being  obliged  to  put  my  vague  thoughts  into 
words.  '  What  good  can  all  this  theorizing  and 
speculation  do?  Don't  you  think  it  would  be  a 
great  deal  better  for  all  these  people  here  to  spend 
their  time  in  talking  about  something  practical? 
My  feeling  is,  that  people  who  begin  to  think  and 
question  about  God  and  immortality  and  such 
things,  and  are  n't  satisfied  with  the  simple  truths 
of  the  Bible,  get  to  be  skeptics  before  they  know 
it,  and  are  ruined  for  life.  My  mother's  religion  is 
good  enough  for  me.  If  I  can  live  up  to  that  I 
shall  be  satisfied,  without  racking  my  brains  and 
reasoning  over  things  that  God  intended  us  to  take 
on  faith.' 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  this  did  n't  exactly  represent 
my  thought ;  but  I  had  often  heard  it  said,  and 
thought  it  sounded  well.  Besides,  I  was  curious  to 
see  what  he  would  reply  to  it. 

" '  It  would  take  hours  to  answer  adequately 
what  you  have  just  said,  Miss  Brewster,'  replied 
Mr.  Everett ;  '  but  I  will  try  to  say  something  ;  for 
it  is  precisely  these  same  questions  that  I  myself 
have  been  trying  to  answer  in  the  last  few  years.' 

"  We  were  climbing  the   little  hill  that  like  a 


174         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

crescent  surrounded  the  green  hollow,  where  lie 
the  sleepers  in  their  last  sleep.  On  the  summit, 
beneath  the  tall  sighing  pines,  beside  Emerson's 
grave  and  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  graves  of 
Hawthorne  and  Thoreau,  we  sat  down  and  looked 
over  the  broad  valley  on  the  other  side  with  the 
hills  beyond.  It  was  so  quiet,  so  peaceful,  just 
where  a  tired  soul  would  love  to  have  his  last  rest- 
ing-place. 

"  Mr.  Everett  was  silent  for  a  moment,  as  if  to 
collect  his  thought ;  then,  not  looking  at  me,  but 
afar  off  at  the  glimpses  of  blue  between  the  sway- 
ing boughs,  he  began  to  speak,  while  I  listened  in- 
tently, every  word  fairly  burning  itself  upon  my 
memory.  I  did  not  rest  that  night  until  I  had 
transmitted  it  all  to  my  diary,  to  be  read  and  re- 
read over  and  over  again. 

" '  You  say  that  your  mother's  religion  is  good 
enough  for  you,'  he  began.  '  Well,  Miss  Brewster, 
when  I  think  of  the  love  and  devotion,  of  the  ten- 
der prayers  and  wise  counsels  that  guided  my  boy- 
ish waywardness,  when  I  think  of  the  saintliness 
and  unselfishness  of  my  own  sainted  mother,  I  feel 
like  saying  that,  too.  If  I  could  ever  have  one  half 
her  spirituality  and  Christlikeness,  I  should  count 
my  life  a  grand  success.  But  I  cannot  say,  and  I 
know  that  truth  and  justice  cannot  compel  me  to 
say,  that  my  mother's  theology  would  be  enough 
for  me,  for  her  life  was  not  the  outcome  of  much 
in  her  theology.  Her  unquestioning  faith  in  a  lit- 
eral Adam  and  Eve  had  nothing  to  do  with  her 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  175 

sweetness  and  devotion  to  duty.  Nor  was  her  un- 
wavering belief  in  the  sacredness  of  everything  in 
the  sixty-six  Hebrew  and  Christian  books  the  cause 
of  her  infinite  patience  and  self -sacrifice.  No ;  I 
want  my  mother's  religion,  but  I  cannot  accept  all 
of  her  theology.  I  should  count  it  a  sin  against 
God  if  I  were  to  so  stultify  my  intelligence  as  to 
do  it. 

" '  You  say,  "  Don't  you  think  all  these  people  here 
had  better  be  doing  something  practical  ?  "  What 
is  more  practical,  I  ask  you,  than  for  a  human  soul, 
to  whom  life  is  something  more  than  meat  and 
drink,  to  learn  of  that  which  more  than  all  else 
concerns  that  soul's  welfare  ?  And  what  can  more 
help  to  this  than  the  study  of  the  wisest  thought 
of  all  the  ages  on  just  these  very  problems  of  life 
and  death,  things  present  and  things  to  come  ?  As 
Novalis  says,  "  Philosophy  can  bake  no  bread ;  but 
she  can  procure  for  us  God,  Freedom,  and  Immor- 
tality." I  count  that  the  most  practical  as  well  as 
the  most  precious  help  that  can  be  offered  to  any 
questioning  human  soul  who  has  come  to  see  that 
man  cannot  live  by  bread  alone,  and  whose  sorest 
need  is  to  know  the  meaning  and  the  end  of  this 
life  of  ours.' 

" '  But  the  Bible  tells  us  that,'  I  cried  impa- 
tiently ;  '  what  more  do  we  need  ?  ' 

"  '  Perhaps  you  need  nothing  more,'  he  answered 
quietly.  '  If  so,  well  and  good.  Clear  insight  is 
not  essential  to  living  a  noble  life.  If  you  have 
really  grasped  the  spiritual  meaning  of  Christianity 


176         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

it  matters  little  that  you  should  hold  it  in  a  more 
naive  and  literal  way  than  I  am  able  to.  If  in  this 
age  you  can  accept  unquestioningly  everything  that 
has  been  taught  you,  if  you  never  have  a  doubt, 
I  would  be  the  last  person  to  raise  one,  for  I  know 
what  mental  misery  woidd  ensue  in  one  educated 
as  you  have  been.  But  so  long  as  your  religious 
faiths  have  been  inherited,  like  your  hair  and  eyes, 
and  you  have  not  examined  them  so  as  to  make 
them  your  own,  pardon  my  saying  that  there  is 
small  virtue  in  your  holding  them,  and  so  far  as 
your  own  thought  goes  you  might  as  well  have 
been  a  Papist  or  a  Mohammedan.' 

"  '  But  what  is  the  use  of  mental  misery  ?  Why 
should  I  encourage  doubts  and  unrest  ?  Is  it  not 
far  better  to  trust  in  God  and  not  venture  to  ques- 
tion all  the  strange  things  that  he  allows  ?  ' 

"  'You  ask  two  or  three  questions  at  once  ;  let  me 
take  them  one  at  a  time.  Five  years  ago  I  asked 
just  those  same  questions,  and  I  know  how  you  feel.' 
He  spoke  tenderly,  and  his  voice  comforted  me.  I 
was  beginning  to  get  nervous  and  troubled  and  felt 
myself  in  deep  waters. 

"  '  No  great  thing  is  ever  born  into  this  world 
except  by  suffering.  If  we  are  put  here  simply  for 
pleasure,  for  calm  content,  for  peace  of  mind,  let 
us  banish  all  questioning  arid  dread  it  as  a  precur- 
sor of  the  nightmare.  Yes,  if  immediate  peace  of 
mind  is  the  primary  consideration,  let  us,  like  the 
ostrich,  bury  our  heads  in  the  sand,  like  the  chicken 
refuse  to  pick  our  way  through  the  shell,  and  be 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          177 

turned  out  of  our  warm  corner  into  the  bare,  cold 
world  outside.  If  peace  of  mind  is  our  chief  aim, 
let  us  stop  thinking  once  for  all.  It  is  dangerous. 
Yes,  thinking  is  always  dangerous  ;  dangerous  to 
one's  love  of  ease  and  content  with  existing  ideas. 
The  little  shoot  content  with  its  environment  in 
the  dark  mould  will  never  reach  the  sunlight  until 
first  it  struggles  upward  from  the  conditions  that 
surround  it. 

" '  Many  a  time  in  the  last  four  years  I  have  said 
to  myself,  in  the  night  of  horror  that  swept  over 
me,  when  I  felt  as  if  the  foundations  beneath  me 
had  broken  away,  "  whether  the  Bible  be  true,  or 
life  eternal,  or  God  a  father,  I  do  not  know ;  but 
this  one  thing  I  do  know  :  I  must  be  true ;  I  must 
be  unselfish ;  I  must  go  on  and  seek  the  light ; " 
and,  thank  God,  I  have  begun  to  find  it  at  last.' 

"  Mr.  Everett  spoke  with  a  quiet  intensity  of  feel- 
ing that  awed  me.  However,  I  ventured  to  ask, 
rather  timidly,  '  But  you  did  find  —  you  do  believe 
in  the  Bible  now,  don't  you  ? ' 

" '  That  is  a  question  which  cannot  be  rightly 
answered  by  a  "yes"  or  "  no," '  he  replied;  'for 
neither  answer  would  be  true.  I  was  brought  up, 
as  perhaps  you  were,  to  look  upon  all  these  matters 
without  the  slightest  discrimination ;  to  think  a  dis- 
belief in  Jonah's  whale  synonymous  with  the  dis- 
belief in  the  divine  inspiration  of  any  part  of  the 
Bible ;  to  think  a  disbeliever  in  the  Bible  necessa- 
rily a  disbeliever  in  God ;  and  to  count  a  disbeliever 
in  immortality  on  a  par  with  a  bigamist  or  a  horse- 
thief. 


178  MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

" '  When  I  dared  trust  myself  to  think  and  read 
this  book,  or  rather  collection  of  books,  with  a 
calm,  unprejudiced  eye,  I  was  amazed  to  find  how 
much  I  had  been  taught  to  claim  for  them  which 
they  never  claim  for  themselves.  They  became 
utterly  new  books  to  me,  as  if  I  had  never  read 
them  before  ;  wonderfully  rich  and  helpful  and  in- 
spiring and  full,  as  I  believe,  of  the  truest  religious 
inspiration,  but  not  always  a  guide  for  me  in  his- 
tory and  science,  and  not  infallible  as  to  fact. 

"  '  Who  shall  find  any  authority  for  the  doctrine 
that  inspiration  ceased  with  the  last  one  of  those 
sixty-six  books  ?  No,  Miss  Brewster,'  said  Mr.  Ev- 
erett, looking  at  me  earnestly,  his  shoulders  thrown 
back,  his  head  erect,  '  God  reveals  himself  to  man 
to-day  just  as  truly  in  this  new  world  as  ever  he  did 
thousands  of  years  ago  to  Hebrew  seers. 

"  '  You  ask  why  I  should  crave  any  deeper  reasons 
for  my  belief  in  God,  free-will,  and  immortality 
than  these  writings  give.  Simply  this:  I  must. 
At  first  I  fought  against  it,  fearing  it  to  be  a  temp- 
tation of  the  devil.  But  I  came  to  see  that  this 
fear,  for  me  at  least,  was  cowardice  and  folly.  The 
command  was  laid  upon  my  soul  to  give  an  ade- 
quate reason  for  the  faith  that  I  held,  and  I  could 
not  be  recreant  to  this  call  of  conscience.  I  had 
been  told  to  believe  the  Bible  because  it  was  God's 
Word,  and  then,  following  in  a  circle,  to  believe 
that  there  was  a  God  because  God's  Word  proved 
it.  It  did  not  take  me  long  to  see  the  childishness 
of  this,  and  though  I  put  it  off  again  and  again, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          179 

my  conscience  would  not  be  stilled  until  I  had  sys- 
tematically set  myself  to  see  whether  or  not  any- 
thing could  really  be  known,  or  whether  inference, 
conjecture,  and  hope  were  all  that  God  had  vouch- 
safed to  the  creature  made  in  his  image. 

"  '  I  suppose  few  women  ever  feel  this  necessity. 
I  do  not  say  that  it  is  necessary  for  you  or  for  any 
one  to  probe  to  the  bottom  of  these  things,  if  you 
are  content  without  doing  so.  I  think,  however, 
that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  thousand 
bewildered  spirits  in  our  day,  who  long  to  know 
but  who  cannot  themselves  study,  to  come  to  see 
that  knowledge  on  the  questions  which  are  most 
vital  to  us  all  is  to  be  had  by  every  rational  being 
who  has  time  and  patience  and  follows  the  right 
path  of  inquiry ;  and  that  in  these  matters,  if  we 
are  willing  to  pay  the  cost  of  time  and  labor,  we 
may  in  truth  see  and  know. 

"  '  There  are  few  who  have  the  time  or  taste  for 
any  deep  philosophic  study.  There  are  fewer  still 
who  have  any  faith  in  the  outcome  of  such  study, 
and  of  these  few  but  a  handful  who  get  started  on 
the  right  road  and  persist  until  they  attain  results. 
Moreover,  as  truly  in  philosophy  as  in  religion 
must  one  be  "  born  again  "  ;  and,  unlike  religious 
birth,  it  cannot  be  instantaneous,  for  it  is  not  a 
matter  of  will.  It  takes  years  to  bring  about  this 
new  and  deeper  insight. 

"  '  I  rarely  find  a  person  whom  I  would  advise  to 
study  philosophy,  for  here,  if  anywhere,  a  little  learn- 
ing is  a  dangerous  thing,  and  one  is  maddened  by 


180          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

the  superficial  talk  of  those  who  have  not  learned  its 
a-b-c,  but  yet  presume  to  argue  as  if  they  had  mas- 
tered everything  from  Aristotle  to  Schelling.  I 
have  come  to  find  that  there  a»e  very  few  people 
who  even  dream  of  what  philosophy  is.  The  aver- 
age man  fancies  that  speculative  philosophy  must 
be  simply  guess-work  or  some  vague  theorizing,  un- 
worthy of  a  Christian  man  who  has  any  practical 
work  to  do  in  this  world  in  the  way  of  earning  his 
living  and  helping  to  hasten  the  kingdom  of  God. 

"  '  But  the  average  Christian  is  largely  material- 
istic in  his  thought.  His  heaven,  his  hell,  are  local- 
ities ;  his  God  a  huge,  anthropomorphic  being,  and 
the  universe  a  kind  of  vast  machine,  guided  by 
some  external  Power ;  or  a  sort  of  precipitate  or 
sediment,  as  it  were,  of  the  eternal  thought. 

"  '  If  this  is  trae  of  a  man  who  professes  and  in 
some  measure  accepts  a  real  spiritual  faith,  how 
much  more  true  is  it  of  the  average  worldly  man 
of  common  sense !  He  looks  upon  the  ground  he 
walks  on  as  something  real.  It  is  something  that 
appeals  to  his  senses,  and  he  smiles  with  calm  con- 
tempt if  you  tell  him  that  an  idea  is  far  more  real 
than  the  earth  beneath  his  foot ;  that  it  is  thought, 
and  thought  alone,  that  sustains  this  planet ;  and 
that  all  the  things  that  he  considers  real  are  in  fact 
mere  passing  phenomena,  absolutely  nothing  in 
themselves,  except  as  they  exist  in  relation  to  other 
things.' 

"  I  looked  up  somewhat  perplexed  at  this  and 
was  about  to  ask  a  question,  but  Mr.  Everett  was 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  181 

too  preoccupied  with  his  own  thought  to  notice  this. 
Leaning  his  head  against  a  gray  tree -trunk,  he 
looked  with  absent  eyes  far  off  at  the  purple  hills. 
Presently  he  went  on  : 

" '  Just  as  the  sensualist  can  never  understand 
the  spiritually-minded  man  and  his  infinitely  higher 
capacity  for  joy,  so  the  man  of  mere  common  sense 
can  never  understand  the  man  of  philosophic  in- 
sight, the  man  of  more  than  common  sense,  until  he 
has  been  mentally  born  again,  and  has  transcended 
the  materialistic  phase  of  thought  in  which  we  all 
begin  to  do  our  thinking,  and  which  most  of  us 
never  pass  beyond.  As  said  the  man  whose  dust 
lies  at  our  feet,  "  Every  man's  words,  who  speaks 
from  that  life,  must  sound  vain  to  those  who  do  not 
dwell  in  the  same  thought  on  their  own  part." ' 

"  '  But  is  it  necessary  to  go  through  this  tragic 
experience  of  which  you  have  spoken  in  order  to 
reach  right  results  ?  '  I  asked. 

"  '  Whether  it  be  tragic  or  not  depends  upon  the 
temperament  and  traditions  of  the  individual,'  he 
answered. 

"  '  To  me,  brought  up  to  know  all  that  was  pos- 
sible of  the  loveliness  of  Christian  character,  and 
taught  to  attribute  it  to  a  theology  that  was  more 
or  less  false,  a  change  of  belief  was  naturally  al- 
most as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  a  deterioration  in 
moral  character.  From  the  cradle  I  was  destined 
for  the  missionary  work ;  so  you  see  that  I  had  al- 
ways the  fear  of  frustrating  my  parents'  most  cher- 
ished hopes  if  I  should  deviate  from  their  standard 


182          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

of  doctrine.  In  later  years  I  gladly  acquiesced 
in  their  desire  to  see  me  in  the  ministry ;  it  seemed 
to  me,  it  still  seems  to  me,  the  most  enviable  life 
in  the  world.' 

"  I  listened  eagerly,"  said  Mildred,  "  as  Mr.  Ev- 
erett said  this.  I,  too,  had  often  thought  of  the 
missionary  work,  but  I  could  not  leave  mother 
then. 

" '  Well,  Miss  Brewster,'  Mr.  Everett  continued ; 
*  I  was  blessed  or  afflicted,  whichever  you  may 
please  to  call  it,  with  a  conscience  which  would  not 
let  me  rest  content  with  tacit  consent  to  what  I 
came  to  see  was  hardly  more  than  a  half  truth, 
and  my  inward  life  since  my  senior  year  at  Yale 
three  years  ago  has  been,  until  recently,  one  of 
bitter  conflict.  Night  after  night,  after  leaving 
the  lecture-room  at  the  seminary,  have  I  walked 
my  floor  until  morning,  too  wretched  to  pray,  my 
brain  half  crazed  with  the  ceaseless  turmoil  of  my 
thoughts.  "  I  have  no  message  to  give  to  others," 
I  said,  "  for  I  am  sure  of  nothing  ;  no  one  is  sure 
of  anything."  Like  the  sad  Hindu  king,  I  asked 
myself, 

"  How  knowest  thou  aught  of  God, 

Of  his  favor  or  his  wrath  ? 
Can  the  little  fish  tell  what  the  eagle  thinks, 
Or  map  out  the  eagle's  path  ? 

Can  the  finite  the  infinite  seek  ? 

Did  the  blind  discover  the  stars  ? 
Is  the  thought  that  I  think  a  thought, 

Or  a  throb  of  the  brain  in  its  bars  ?  " 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         183 

"  '  But  at  last  help  came,  I  have  told  you  through 
whom,  and  now  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  I  thank 
God  for  all  that  bitter  experience.  I  know  better 
how  to  understand  and  sympathize  with  many  a 
one  whom  I  have  found  struggling  in  the  meshes 
of  sophistry  ;  earnest  souls,  who  long  for  the  truth 
more  than  they  long  for  life  itself,  and  finding  no 
one  who  can  do  more  for  them  than  to  simply  say 
"  Repent  and  believe." 

"  '  Not  that  I  have  learned  much  yet.  I  have  only 
begun  to  get  glimpses  of  the  truth.  I  feel  sure  of 
far  less  now  than  I  did  five  years  ago.  But  I  know 
this  :  I  do  know  and  see  beyond  perad venture  that 
it  is  right  to  probe  to  the  uttermost  the  problems 
which  confront  me.  I  should  have  been  false  to 
myself,  unfaithful  to  my  highest,  truest  instinct,  if 
I  had  listened  to  the  tearful  advice  of  my  timid 
friends  and  turned  my  back  and  shut  my  eyes  to 
what  God  would  reveal  to  me.  I  did  not  know 
where  I  should  be  led  ;  my  knees  knocked  together 
with  fear  as  I  felt  my  way  through  the  gloom. 
But  gradually,  and  chiefly  from  the  writings  of  that 
man  whose  teachings  we  heard  this  morning,  have 
I  learned  not  only  to  believe,  but  to  know  the 
truths  which  he  taught  us  to-day.  Some  men  call 
him  skeptic,  rationalist ;  at  best  they  say,  such 
talk  must  be  unpractical.  Fools!  not  to  know 
that  to  save  a  soul  from  hopeless  despair,  to  give 
life  and  health  to  an  immortal  spirit,  is  quite  as 
practical  a  thing  as  to  pave  streets  and  cut  coats. 

" '  I  look  upon  a  true   philosophy  as  the  most 


184         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

completely  useful  thing  in  the  world.'  He  stopped, 
and  I  looked  up  bewildered. 

"  '  Useful  ? '  I  asked. 

"  '  Certainly ;  useful.  Is  not  that  useful  which 
gives  man  a  clear  insight  into  what  must  otherwise 
be  forever  obscure  ?  Is  it  not  useful  to  lift  him  out 
of  the  domain  of  prejudice  and  mere  opinion  on 
vital  matters,  and  give  him  the  key  to  the  universe 
by  making  him  to  know  the  grounds  of  his  knowl- 
edge, of  his  being,  and  of  his  destiny  ?  ' 

" '  But  do  you  not  believe  in  relying  on  faith  at 
all  ?  Do  you  accept  nothing  that  you  do  not  un- 
derstand ? '  I  asked. 

"  '  I  understand  very  few  things  that  my  reason 
compels  me  to  accept,'  answered  Mr.  Everett.  '  I  do 
not  understand  the  chemical  change  which  trans- 
mutes my  food  into  living  animal  matter,  and  I  do 
not  understand  a  million  things  which  I  believe. 
Certainly  we  must  have  faith.  All  business  and 
all  life  depends  upon  faith.  But  by  faith  I  do 
not  mean  the  simple  credulity  of  my  childhood  in 
everything  that  I  was  taught.  By  faith  I  mean  a 
steadfast  reliance  on  what  my  reason  tells  me  is 
true,  even  though  I  have  no  immediate  evidence  of 
it,  and  imagination  and  understanding  fail  to  com- 
pass it.  When  I  see  the  apparently  useless  suffer- 
ing and  cruelty  which  the  Supreme  Power  has  per- 
mitted, I  have  faith  in  his  infinite  goodness,  not 
because  any  man  or  book  has  told  me  that  it  is  so, 
but  because,  thank  God,  I  see  that  it  is  so ;  and  it 
is  philosophic  study  alone  which  has  made  me  see 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          185 

this.  He  who  is  afraid  to  study  and  question  into 
the  nature  of  the  universe  "  and  trust  the  Rock  of 
Ages  to  his  chemic  test "  is  the  man  who  has  no 
true  faith.' 

"  '  But  after  all,'  I  said,  '  you  must  admit  that  the 
philosophers  are  but  little  read.  It  is  the  practical, 
common-sense  people  of  the  world  who  have  done 
the  work,  and  they  have  got  on  very  well,  too, 
without  all  this  theorizing.' 

"  '  There  was  never  a  greater  mistake  in  the 
world,'  replied  Mr.  Everett  vehemently,  too  deeply 
in  earnest  to  remember  anything  but  the  point  that 
he  was  trying  to  make.  '  The  philosophers  certainly 
have  not  been  widely  read,  but  that  by  no  means 
measures  their  influence.  It  is  they  who  have 
taught  the  teachers  who  have  taught  the  masses, 
and  as  the  traveler  knows  perhaps  nothing  of  the 
inventor  of  the  engine  which  carries  him  safely 
from  one  side  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  and 
makes  life  larger  for  him  in  a  hundred  ways,  so  we 
all,  reaping  every  day  in  every  one  of  our  human 
institutions  the  rich  benefits  which  the  thinkers  of 
the  ages  have  bestowed  upon  us,  say  ungratefully 
that  we  owe  them  nothing.  We  attribute  all  our 
speed  to  the  visible  engineer  and  conductor  who  by 
another  man's  genius  have  brought  us  to  our  desti- 
nations.' 

"  '  Would  you  advise  me  to  study  philosophy  ? ' 
I  inquired  humbly,  much  impressed  with  the  point 
of  his  reply  to  what  I  had  flattered  myself  was  a 
rather  bright  remark. 


186         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

" '  That  depends,'  he  said, '  on  what  and  how  you 
study.  If  you  wish  to  study  simply  to  be  able  to 
say  or  to  feel  that  you  have  studied  philosophy, 
and  can  quote  from  this  or  that  man,  I  advise  you 
not  to  study.' 

"  I  must  have  flushed  and  looked  a  little  hurt, 
for  he  quickly  added,  '  Pardon  me,  Miss  Brewster, 
I  think  that  you  are  far  too  much  in  earnest  for 
that ;  but  I  have  seen  too  many  begin  to  read  phi- 
losophy as  a  mere  amusement,  a  sort  of  fad,  and 
with  no  real  earnest  purpose,  learning  just  enough 
to  make  them  conceited  or  discouraged,  and  doing 
no  good  to  themselves  or  any  one  else,  and  bringing 
the  study  of  philosophy  into  disrepute.  To  me  my 
philosophy  has  been  a  search  for  God,  for  truth. 
I  have  studied  for  my  soul's  sorest  need,  and  in 
all  my  intellectual  life  I  have  found  nothing  so 
satisfying,  nothing  that  gives  me  such  hope  and 
courage.' 

" '  Should  you  advise  me  to  begin  with  Herbert 
Spencer  ?  '  I  asked,  thinking  that  I  would  come  to 
something  definite. 

" '  No,  as  you  value  your  power  to  grow.  You 
are  not  ready  for  him  yet.  He  would  fascinate 
you,  and  you  could  not  refute  his  fallacies ;  but 
read  Plato,  read  Kant,  Fichte,  Hegel.  Don't  begin 
with  them,  though.  Read  first,  perhaps,  the  "  In- 
troduction to  Philosophy  "  by  the  man  whom  we 
heard  this  morning.  I  will  give  you  also  an  article 
of  his  which  deals  with  Spencer  in  a  way  that 
opened  my  eyes. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  187 

"  '  Don't  read  much  at  a  time,  else  it  will  utterly 
daunt  you.  Come  back  to  it  again  and  again  at 
intervals.  You  will  be  astonished  to  see  your 
growth.  You  will  be  surprised  to  find  how  digging 
at  these  tough  problems  makes  such  mental  muscle 
as  renders  other  tasks  easy. 

" '  It  will  open  a  new  world  to  you ;  but  you 
must  have  infinite  patience.  I  have  made  up  my 
mind  to  that.  I  shall  be  more  than  thankful  if  in 
twenty  years  I  have  mastered  this  book ; '  and  he 
drew  a  volume  of  Hegel  from  his  pocket. 

"  The  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  trees  as  we 
rose  to  go  homeward.  Stiffened  with  sitting  so 
long,  I  tripped  and  fell.  He  sprang  and  caught 
me  in  his  great  strong  arms  for  one  little  moment ; 
then  —  well  —  I  trembled  a  bit  with  the  start  it 
had  given  me,  and  finding  that  my  foot  had  really 
been  hurt  a  little,  I  accepted  his  help  as  we  de- 
scended the  slope  and  climbed  upon  the  other  side 
to  the  road  again.  It  seemed  very  pleasant  to  have 
his  strong  arm  for  a  support.  There  had  not  been 
a  word  of  love,  but  his  unaffected,  frank  talk  had 
touched  me  as  no  compliments  or  sentiment  could 
ever  have  done. 

"I  had  thought  his  voice  rather  harsh  at  first 
when  he  spoke  so  earnestly  and  vehemently,  but  it 
had  grown  very  tender  and  quiet  now,  and  as  we 
came  back  from  the  woods  to  civilization  again  we 
lapsed  into  silence." 

As  Mildred  ceased  the  clock  struck  midnight. 
The  noise  outside  had  died  away,  and  the  fire  had 


188        MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

burned  low,  too  low  for  me  to  distinguish  her  face 
clearly. 

"  And  was  there  no  love  -  making  at  all  ?  "  I 
asked,  much  disappointed  at  the  prosaic  ending  of 
the  little  romance  that  I  had  been  anticipating.  A 
talk  on  philosophy  in  a  graveyard  was  not  the  kind 
of  love-making  that  I  knew  about,  and  I  wondered 
if  there  ever  were  another  girl  like  Mildred. 

"  Oh,  I  did  n't  say  there  was  any  love-making," 
said  Mildred  rather  dryly.  "  I  simply  said  that  I 
think  I  really  was  in  love." 

"And  is  that  all?  Did  you  never  see  him 
again  ?  "  I  persisted. 

"  Yes,  several  times  afterward,"  she  answered ; 
"  for  I  went  regularly  to  the  school  after  that.  At 
first  I  understood  almost  nothing,  and  much  of 
what  he  said  was  Greek  to  me.  I  met  some  de- 
lightful people  there,  but  he  helped  me  more  than 
any  one  else.  He  loaned  me  books,  and  we  had 
many  a  talk. 

"  I  felt  that  we  were  becoming  fast  friends,  when 
suddenly  he  went  West.  I  received  a  note  from 
him  some  months  afterward,  telling  me  that  his 
parents  had  died ;  but  there  was  very  little  about 
himself.  I  heard  afterward  that  he  was  engaged  ; 
but  after  Julia  died  I  lost  all  knowledge  of  him. 
Probably  he  has  forgotten  me  long  ago,  but  I  owe 
to  that  talk  the  best  things  that  have  come  to  me 
since  I  was  a  woman.  Yes,  Ruby,  that  first  April- 
day  and  that  second  day  in  midsummer  in  old  Con- 
cord are  the  two  red-letter  days  of  my  life." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

(Extract  from  the  New  York  "  Tribune.") 

BOOKS     FOR     THE     MILLION  !      HELP     FOR     THOSE 
WHO   WILL   HELP    THEMSELVES. 

IT  has  been  understood  that  Miss  Mildred  Brew- 
ster,  the  Boston  heiress  and  philanthropist  who  has 
recently  been  making  such  a  sensation  in  New 
York  society,  was  quite  inaccessible  to  reporters. 
But  yesterday  a  member  of  the  "Tribune"  staff 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  gain  a  gracious  reception,  and 
to  learn  certain  facts  which  will  be  of  great  interest 
to  the  public  in  general. 

Miss  Brewster  was  found  in  her  pretty  parlor  at 
the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  dressed  to  attend  a  recep- 
tion, in  an  exquisite  robe  of  golden-brown  velvet, 
simply  made,  and  worn  with  a  unique  girdle  and 
collar  of 

RARELY  BEAUTIFUL  CAMEOS. 

Miss  Brewster  said  that  she  was  waiting  for  her 
carriage,  but  was  not  in  haste,  and  would  be 
pleased  to  make  an  authentic  statement  in  regard 
to  certain  facts  of  which  there  had  been  vague 
rumors  in  the  papers  of  late. 

She  began  by  saying  that  she  supposed  the  news- 


190          MEMOIRS    OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

papers  would  learn  it  indirectly  sooner  or  later,  and 
therefore  she  might  as  well  give  the  facts  so  that 
they  should  be  stated  accurately.  What  followed 
will  be  given  as  nearly  as  possible  in  Miss  Brew- 
ster's  own  words. 

"  When  I  was  a  child,"  she  said,  "  I  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  some  of  the  frontier  towns  of  our 
Western  states,  where  my  father  was  vainly  seek- 
ing for  a  climate  which  would  prolong  his  life.  I 
had  an  opportunity  there  to  observe  many  things 
which  I  have  never  forgotten.  I  understood  them 
but  dimly  then,  but  as  I  grew  to  womanhood  in  my 
New  England  home,  surrounded  with  the  privi- 
leges and  traditions  of  an  older  and  more  distinctly 
American  civilization,  I  often  contrasted  my  life 
with  what  it  would  have  been  had  I  grown  up  among 
the  German  farmers,  rough  cowboys,  greedy  land 
speculators,  and  half -starved  home  missionaries,  who 
formed  the  chief  part  of  the  people  whom  we  met 
in  the  little  towns  along  the  railroad  on  the  West- 
ern prairies. 

"  I  was  too  young  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
indomitable  energy  of  this  pioneer  work.  I  saw 
only  the  sordid,  unpicturesque  side  of  it  then. 

"  I  hated  the  tornadoes  and  blizzards  ;  I  loathed 
the  sloughs  and  muddy  streams  —  the  everlasting 
dullness  of  the  prairie  and  the  prosaic  struggle  for 
existence  in  the  little  clusters  of  board  shanties  or 
in  the  isolated  log  cabins  and  dug-outs.  I  longed 
for  the  hills  and  granite  bowlders,  for  the  great 
elms  and  sparkling  streams  of  New  England,  and 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          191 

for  the  refinements  and  conveniences  of  my  East- 
ern home. 

"  How  well  I  recall  the  tired,  overworked  women, 
toiling  over  their  cooking-stoves,  with  no  household 
conveniences,  milking,  churning,  mending,  wash- 
ing, feeding  the  pigs,  selling  eggs,  and  making 
themselves  prematurely  old  that  their  children 
might  have  a  '  better  chance.' 

"  I  remember,  with  my  insatiable  love  of  read- 
ing, how  my  first  glance  on  entering  a  house  was 
in  search  of  book-shelves.  Many  a  time,  though 
in  the  house  of  a  man  owning  hundreds  of  cattle 
and  a  thousand  acres  of  land,  I  have  found  no  lit- 
erature beyond  a  copy  of  the  Bible  but  little  used, 
the  State  Agricultural  or  Mining  Eeports,  or  a 
stray  copy  of  '  Godey's  Lady's  Book.' 

"  But,  as  an  offset  to  this  prosaic  life,  I  remem- 
ber also,  as  I  look  back  upon  it  now,  the  hopeful- 
ness and  cheerfulness,  the  ambition  and  self-sacri- 
fice, and  the  sturdy  courage  and  self-reliance  which 
all  this  new  Western  life  engendered. 

"  There  was  much  that  was  admirable  about  it  all, 
and  that  gave  promise  of  the  development  of  great 
men  and  women  and  a  glorious  future  for  that  part 
of  our  country.  Yet  I  know  that  in  many  instances, 
except  where  a  colony  of  Eastern  people  had  set- 
tled and  put  up  their  schoomouse  and  church  be- 
fore there  was  an  opportunity  to  build  a  gambling 
den  and  saloon,  the  early  influences  which  shaped 
the  future  of  the  towns  were  like  the  sowing  of 
dragon's  teeth,  which  have  brought  forth,  as  I  have 
taken  pains  to  learn,  most  deadly  fruit. 


192         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  It  is  more  than  sixteen  years  since  I  have  been 
in  the  West,  and  I  intend  now  to  revisit  it.  Of 
course  I  shall  see  an  astonishing  change.  I  read 
of  opera  houses  and  electric  lights  in  the  places 
that  I  remember  as  mere  shabby  settlements  of  a 
hundred  shanties.  But  the  same  condition  of 
things  that  I  knew  then  is  still  to  be  found  in  a 
thousand  places  further  west,  or  off  the  line  of  the 
main  roads,  and  it  will  continue  for  a  half  century 
to  come.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  ignorant  emi- 
grants are  pouring  into  this  land,  with  throngs  of 
alert  young  business  men  from  the  East,  all  mak- 
ing a  breakneck  race  for  wealth.  They  are  buying 
the 

LAST  REMNANTS  OF  GOVERNMENT  LAND, 

and  are  developing  the  material  resources  of  the 
country  at  an  amazing  rate.  The  shanties  will  give 
place  to  brick  blocks,  and  the  sloughs  to  paved 
streets,  soon  enough.  I  am  not  concerned  as  to 
that. 

"  The  luxuries  of  civilization  will  come  as  rapidly 
as  one  could  wish,  but  it  is  the  tendency  of  things 
in  regard  to  the  development  of  morals  and  char- 
acter that  alarms  me.  When  I  learn  that  one 
third  of  our  school  population  in  this  land  of 
boasted  educational  privileges  is  ignorant  of  the 
alphabet,  and  that  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  states 
and  territories  there  is  one  saloon  for  every  forty- 
three  voters  ;  when  I  read  how  the  peasants  of  Eu- 
rope are  flocking  by  the  hundred  thousand  to  this 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         193 

fair  Western  land,  and  I  see  the  possibilities  of  the 
future  for  good  or  evil,  it  wakens  all  my  ardor  and 
enthusiasm  to  be  up  and  doing  and  lending  a  hand 
to  help  shape  its  destiny. 

"  There  are  many  who,  not  falling  under  good 
influences  at  once,  lapse  into  a  selfish  indifference 
to  everything  but  their  own  worldly  advancement 
if  they  do  not  retrograde  morally.  I  do  not  mean 
that  they  are  heartless.  They  have,  of  course,  the 
proverbial  Western  generosity  and  frank  cordiality, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  things  in  the  world  and 
is  very  genuine ;  but  it  is  often  coupled  with  an  ab- 
solute contempt  for  everything  beyond  that  which 
will  advance  their  purely  material  interests.  In 
short,  they  are  '  Philistines.' 

"  I  have  seen  many  Western  men  who  have 
made  their  '  pile,'  as  they  say,  who  would  find  it 
absolutely  impossible  to  believe  in  any  one's  having 
such  a  real,  disinterested  enthusiasm  for  art,  or 
science,  or  literature  as  would  permit  a  man  like 
Agassiz  to  say : 

'I   HAVE   NO   TIME   TO   MAKE   MONEY.' 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  would  throw  no 
slurs  on  Western  men.  There  are  thousands  in 
New  England  as  all-absorbed  in  money-getting  as 
they,  only  there  is  this  saving  difference  :  Here, 
these  men  are,  in  spite  of  themselves,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  traditions  and  institutions  founded  by 
better  men  than  they ;  and  there,  they  are  the  crea- 
tors of  the  traditions  and  institutions  which  are  to 


194         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

be  and  which  will  of  a  surety  be  no  better  than 
they  choose  to  make  them. 

"  It  is  the  early  settlers  that  shape  the  future  of 
the  country.  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  South 
Carolina  are  to-day  what  their  first  settlers  made 
them. 

"  I  believe  in  the  New  England  principles,  and 
in  the  men  who  sought  New  England's  shores,  not 
to  find  gold,  to  speculate  in  land,  to  buy  bonanza 
farms,  but  to  found  a  commonwealth  such  as  man- 
kind had  never  seen,  a  commonwealth  whose  cor- 
ner-stones should  be  righteousness  and  ideas. 

"  It  is  these  New  England  principles  that  I 
would  engraft  upon  that  great  empire  of  the  West, 
which  to-day  is  so  plastic  in  our  hands,  whose 
future  we,  to-day,  have  power  to  shape,  but  which 
to-morrow  we  shall  be  powerless  to  mould. 

"  I  would  teach  them  that  all  their  limitless  ma- 
terial resources  cannot  make  them  the  real  power 
in  the  land  that  little,  sterile  Massachusetts,  with 
her  east  winds  and  rocky  soils,  has  been,  unless 
they  first  plant  the  seed  that  shall  bring  forth  such 
men  of  character  and  thought  as  New  England  has 
borne. 

"  Why  was  it  that  so  many  of  the  men  of  this 
century,  whom  the  nation  most  delights  to  honor, 
Emerson,  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  Lowell,  Bryant, 
Whittier,  Holmes,  Beecher,  Curtis,  Garrison,  Phil- 
lips, Webster,  were  sons  of  this  New  England  soil  ? 

"  I  know  that  I  am  saying  nothing  new.  All  this 
is  very  trite,  as  trite  as  the  Ten  Commandments. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         195 

It  has  been  said  a  thousand  times  ;  yet  half  our 
people  do  not  know  it  or  believe  it,  and  serenely 
smile  at  what  they  call  our  '  Eastern  egotism.'  I 
confess  that  we  have  quite  too  much  of  that.  I,  for 
one,  have  almost  as  hearty  a  contempt  as  any  of 
them  for  the  men  who 

...  'sit  the  idle  slaves  of  a  legendary  virtue 
Carved  upon  their  fathers'  graves.' 

"  Let  no  one  think  that  I  am  boasting  of  the  New 
England  of  to-day.  I  am  simply  saying  that  the 
principles  which  have  made  her  a  power  in  this 
nation  are  the  principles  by  which,  in  East  and 
West,  in  North  and  South,  this  nation  must  rise, 
or  without  which  she  must  fall.  And  if  the  nation 
is  to  be  saved, 

THE  WEST 

must  be  saved.  No  man  needs  to  be  told  that 
there  is  to  be  the  true  seat  of  empire. 

"To  me,  this  present  war,  waged  between  the 
forces  of  good  and  evil,  for  the  conquest  of  this 
land,  has  an  all-absorbing  interest.  Surely,  as  I 
have  said,  this  generation  will  not  pass  away  be- 
fore the  fate  —  that  is  to  say,  the  influences  which 
are  chiefly  to  control  the  destinies  of  millions  yet 
unborn  —  of  this  great  nation  will  be  settled." 

As  Miss  Brewster  uttered  these  words  her  cheeks 
glowed,  and  her  whole  frame  seemed  to  quiver  with 
the  intensity  of  her  feeling.  She  rose  and  rest- 
lessly paced  the  floor  as  she  continued  : 

"  I  have  said  all  this  because  I  want  it  under- 


196         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

stood  why  I  intend  to  devote  a  large  share  of  my 
property  to  sowing  all  over  the  West  and  South 
the  seeds  of  what  I  count  as  best,  in  the  form  of 

FREE    READING-ROOMS    AND    CIRCULATING 
LIBRARIES. 

"  I  have  been  for  some  time  carefully  studying 
into  this  subject,  and  I  have  learned  some  facts 
which  are  rather  startling  when  one  considers  the 
inference  which  must  be  drawn  from  them. 

"  Let  me  give  you  a  few  of  these  facts,"  said 
Miss  Brewster,  seating  herself  at  her  desk  and 
drawing  some  papers  from  a  pigeon-hole. 

"  Taking  all  the  libraries  which  contain  more 
than  one  thousand  volumes,  and  are  absolutely  free 
to  every  one,  I  find  that  in  Massachusetts  there  are 
two  hundred,  and  in  other  New  England  states  — 
and  some  of  the  Middle  states  as  well  —  a  number 
approximating  that.  But  what  do  I  find  in  the 
West  and  South  ?  I  find  that  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
Alabama,  Arkansas,  Montana,  Arizona,  Idaho, 
Oregon,  Nevada,  Washington  and  Dakota  terri- 
tories, and  New  Mexico,  have 

NOT  ONE   FREE   GENERAL   LIBRARY. 

I  find  that  Texas,  Utah,  West  Virginia,  Mississippi, 
and  Colorado  have  but  one  each ;  and  that  Louis- 
iana and  Maryland  have  none  outside  of  the  one 
largest  city  in  each. 

"  Of  course  what  I  have  said  does  not  imply  that 
there  are  no  libraries  in  the  states  referred  to.  But 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         197 

it  does  mean  that  there  are  but  few,  and  that  those 
few  are  either  subscription  libraries  or  else  belong 
to  schools  or  institutions,  and  are  not  open  to  the 
general  public. 

"  How  is  this  all  to  be  explained  ?  Is  it  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  the  West  is  young  and  that  the 
South  is  poor  and  sparsely  settled?  The  West 
is  young,  indeed,  but  not  too  young  to  have  mag- 
nificent opera  houses,  hundreds  of  millionaires'  pal- 
aces, and,  in  many  of  the  new  cities,  richer  clothes 
for  every  one  and  more  of  them  than  the  average 
New  Englander  thinks  he  can  afford. 

"  The  South  is  poor,  very  poor,  and  very  sparsely 
settled  compared  with  the  North.  But  the  fact 
that  in  those  Southern  states  which  I  have  men- 
tioned there  is  not  one  free  library  open  to  all, 
such  as  one  may  find  in  scores  of  little  villages  in 
the  North,  is  not  due  entirely  to  poverty. 

"  Even  New  York  State,  with  her  superior  wealth 
and  population,  and  with  an  aggregate  number  of 
all  kinds  of  libraries  nearly  as  great  as  that  of 
Massachusetts,  has 

NO   MORE   THAN   THIRTY 

which  are  absolutely  free  and  general  as  compared 
with  the  two  hundred  such  in  Massachusetts.  And 
Pennsylvania,  with  all  her  wealth  and  numbers, 
shows  no  more  than  ten  such  libraries. 

"  The  farther  one  travels  from  New  England, 
the  more  surely  does  one  find  public  sentiment  in- 
different to  these  matters,  and  whole  communities 


198         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

preferring  to  tax  themselves  for  the  adornment  of 
their  cities,  rather  than  to  provide  every  poor  man 
with  books.  Books  are  considered  a  luxury,  not  a 
necessity  ;  to  be  indulged  in  only  by  those  who  can 
afford  to  pay  for  them. 

LEARNING   FOR   ALL 

was  the  idea  of  the  men  who  made  the  North  what 
it  is.  Learning  for  the  few  was  the  idea  of  the 
men  who  made  the  South  what  it  is.  And  the 
men  of  this  generation  are  reaping  the  harvest  of 
the  seed  which  those  men  sowed. 

"  Now  I  propose,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  assist 
in  putting  into  several  thousand  little  communities 
in  the  West  and  South  either  a  free  reading-room 
or  a  free  circulating  library,  or  both,  thinking  that 
it  will  be  the  best  possible  use  to  which  money  can 
be  put. 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be  wondered  at  that  I  do  not 
spend  these  millions  in  the  direction  of  Home  Mis- 
sionary work.  I  have  several  reasons  for  not  do- 
ing so,  although  I  am  heartily  in  sympathy  with  it. 
Never  was  there  nobler,  more  self-denying  and 
more  fruitful  labor  than  that  of  the  overworked 
men  and  women  in  the  Home  Missionary  field. 
But,  in  the  first  place,  there  are  one  hundred  needed 
where  one  can  be  found  to  go.  The  religious  de- 
nomination in  which  I  was  reared  graduates  but 
about  one  hundred  students  from  all  its  theological 
seminaries  every  year,  scarcely  enough,  one  would 
think,  to  supply  the  vacancies  in  the  pulpits  of  the 


v     MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         199 

East,  to  say  nothing  of  the  West,  and  I  presume  the 
same  is  nearly  true  of  other  denominations  which 
I  should  be  quite  as  ready  to  help  as.  my  own. 

"The  library  can  never  take  the  place  of  the 
church,  but  I  am  convinced  that  in  many  commu- 
nities the  provision  of  a  comfortable,  tastefully  fur- 
nished room,  filled  with  periodicals,  giving  to  every 
one  access  to  the  best  literary,  political,  scientific, 
and  religious  thought  of  our  time,  will  do  quite  as 
much  for  the  morals  of  a  town  as  anything  that 
could  be  devised. 

"  Unlike  a  church,  it  will  be  open  every  day  in  the 
week.  It  will  be  a  counter  attraction  to  the  street 
and  the  saloon,  and  if  there  is  a  circulating  library 
as  well  as  a  reading-room,  it  will  serve  to  stimulate 
and  open  a  larger  life  to  every  one  who  takes  a 
book  from  it.  The  home  missionary  shall  not  be 
lacking,  but  she  shall  appear  under  the  guise  of  a 
librarian  instead  of  a  preacher. 

"  In  regions  where  there  is  a  large  proportion  of 
foreigners,  there  shall  be  books  and  periodicals  in 
their  native  tongues.  Few  who  have  not  looked 
into  the  matter  realize  the  terrible  mental  strain  to 
the  mind  of  the  immigrant  from  the  disruption  of 
old  associations  and  the  necessity,  in  middle  life, 
of  adapting  himself  to  utterly  new  conditions,  in  a 
land  where  his  language  is  unspoken.  Many  suc- 
cumb to  this,  and  the  statistics  of  the  numbers  of 

OUR   FOREIGN-BORN    INSANE 

are  startling. 


200         MEMOIRS   OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.      « 

"  The  same  is  true  of  the  insanity  caused  among 
herders'  and  farmers'  wives  by  their  dreary,  iso- 
lated lives  on  the  treeless  plains.  We  commonly 
think  of  people  living  close  to  nature  and  absorbed 
in  simple  daily  tasks  as  being  exceptionally  healthy 
and  placid.  But  a  visit  to  our  hospitals  for  the  in- 
sane will  tell  a  different  story.  The  lonely  woman, 
with  no  outlook  but  the  prairie's  level  floor,  to 
whom  a  new  book,  a  new  picture,  a  new  idea  never 
comes,  is,  as  statistics  show,  as  much  in  danger  of 
losing  her  mind  as  the  man  on  Wall  Street  whose 
life  is  a  fever  of  excitement. 

"  Now,  to  these  tired,  lonely  women,  to  the  young 
girls  who  as  soon  as  they  are  well  into  their  teens 
begin  to  think  of  marrying  and  abandoning  all 
study,  to  the  young  men  so  eager  to  make  money 
that  self -culture  is  counted  an  unnecessary  luxury, 
to  the  boys  who  spend  their  evenings  listening  to 
the  vulgar  talk  of  the  teamsters  at  the  corner  gro- 
cery, to  the  ministers  and  teachers  who  find  that 
their  scant  salaries  permit  of  none  of  the  new  books 
and  papers  which  are  essential  to  their  mental  life, 
— to  all  these  people  I  should  like  to  give  the  bless- 
ing of  books. 

"  The  offer  of  a  '  St.  Nicholas'  or  '  Youth's  Com- 
panion,' from  a  pleasant  librarian,  will  be  quite  as 
effectual  to  keep  a  boy  off  the  street  of  an  evening 
as  an  invitation  from  a  home  missionary  to  go  to  a 
prayer-meeting.  And  to  the  man  who  may  never 
enter  the  building,  the  sight,  as  he  passes  to  his  work 
every  day,  of  a  beautiful  little  temple  devoted  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          201 

the  tilings  of  thought,  will  serve  all  unconsciously 
to  make  life  seem  a  little  cleaner  and  sweeter  and 
more  dignified  than  it  would  be  without  it. 

"  Now  as  to  the  details  of  this.  In  the  first 
place,  I  propose  to  help  only  those  who  are  willing 
to  help  themselves.  That  is  my  principle  of  work 
in  most  matters. 

"This  is  not  a  new  scheme  of  mine.  I  have 
thought  of  it  for  years,  but  it  was  until  recently 
only  a  dream  of  which  there  was  no  prospect  of 
realization.  Now,  however,  I  have  taken  steps, 
which,  whether  I  live  or  die,  will  scatter  all  over 
the  states  and  territories  west  of  the  Mississippi 
and  south  of  the  Ohio  little  centres  of  learning, 
which  will  reach  far  more  people,  and,  I  must  again 
repeat,  do  far  more  good  than  any  other  way  pos- 
sible. 

"  I  have  appointed  two  gentlemen,  and  they  are 
to  select  three  other  trustees,  two  of  whom  are  to 
be  ladies,  who  will  act  with  them  conjointly  in  the 
management  of  the  fund.  I  shall  leave  them 
largely  to  choose  their  own  methods  of  work,  but  I 
have  made  some  stiptdations  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
posal of  the  amount. 

"  No  sum  whatever  is  to  be  given  unconditionally. 
Except  for  special  reasons,  no  amount  shall  ever  be 
given  for  the  establishment  of  a  library  or  reading- 
room  which  shall  be  less  than  fifty  or  more  than 
ten  thousand  dollars,  and  the  amount  given  must 
in  every  case  be 


202         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE, 
DUPLICATED   BY  THE   RECIPIENTS. 

"  That  is  to  say,  if  a  little  rural  community  of 
five  hundred  people  out  in  Nebraska  is  able  to 
raise  one  hundred  dollars  as  a  nucleus  for  a  read- 
ing-room, I  will  give  an  equal  amount.  Some  room 
over  a  store,  perhaps,  or  in  the  church  vestry,  will 
be  rented.  It  will  be  fitted  up  with  chairs,  tables, 
and  lamps,  which  may  be  contributed  by  individ- 
uals independently  of  the  fund.  Then  the  remain- 
der may  be  spent  in  periodicals  and  a  few  refer- 
ence books,  to  be  selected  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  town  and  by  the  agent  whom  I  shall  employ 
to  look  after  all  details  of  the  work. 

"  I  have  already  engaged  a  dozen  persons,  New 
England  teachers  chiefly,  women  whom  I  know, 
whose  good  sense  and  executive  ability  are  to  be 
trusted,  and  I  have  apportioned  out  the  localities 
in  which  they  are  to  work.  The  first  duty  of  each 
one  will  be  to  put  herself  in  communication  with 
the  state  superintendent  of  education,  and  to  re- 
ceive his  indorsement.  Then  she  will  make  the 
announcement  in  all  the  leading  papers  of  the  sta.te 
or  territory,  that  she  is  the  trustees'  accredited  rep- 
resentative, and  is  authorized  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments as  may  be  deemed  fitting  for  the  establish- 
ment of  free  reading-rooms  and  libraries  in  every 
township.  Getting  a  list  of  such  towns  as  have  no 
provision  of  this  kind  for  books  and  reading,  she 
will  proceed  to  communicate,  either  by  letter  or  by 
personal  interviews,  with  the  clergymen,  mayors, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         203 

and  leading  men  of  the  town,  and,  where  any 
apathy  in  the  matter  exists,  will  endeavor  to  arouse 
interest  and  stimulate  them  to  raise  a  fund. 

"  Wherever  there  is  an  interest  and  a  desire  to 
take  immediate  advantage  of  my  proposal  by  erect- 
ing a  building,  the  agent  will  join  with  the  town  in 
deciding  on  the  plan  of  construction,  and  in  the 
selection  of  a  lot,  insisting  always  that  it  shall  be 
ample  enough  to  allow  of  the  addition  of  more 
rooms  to  the  building  as  the  town  grows. 

"  All  the  details  of  the  arrangements  will  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  head  committee  in  New  York,  thereby 
insuring  the  consideration  of  many  matters  essen- 
tial to  the  success  of  the  scheme,  which  might  be 
overlooked  by  the  average  selectman,  more  skilled 
in  raising  grain  and  killing  hogs  than  in  the  science 
of  library  construction. 

"  Of  course  all  this  will  require  tact  as  well  as 
business-like  habits  on  the  part  of  the  agent,  but  I 
can  rely  on  those  I  have  engaged  for  these  quali- 
ties, and  I  will  risk  their  success  anywhere.  I 
shall  urge  them  to  encourage,  wherever  they  can, 
the  erection  of  a  small  hall  in  connection  with  the 
library  building,  which  may  serve  for  lectures  and 
meetings,  and  by  pleasant,  dignified  surroundings 
give  a  tone  to  the  character  of  the  proceedings  held 
in  it,  which  might  not  be  obtained  elsewhere. 

"  I  shall  insist  on  making  the  buildings  as  fire- 
proof and  as  beautiful  as  the  money  will  allow.  I 
want  to  make  the  Library  the  most  attractive 
place  in  town. 


204         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  In  farming  communities,  where  houses  are  few 
and  far  between,  and  an  hour  an  evening  at  a 
central  reading-room  would  be  an  impossibility,  I 
shall  suggest  a  circulation  of  periodicals  after  the 
fashion  of  our  Eastern  book  clubs. 

"  One  great  demand  which  will  be  made  on  us, 
and  which  we  are  not  yet  ready  to  supply,  is  for 
good  librarians.  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  in- 
telligent young  women  to  this  field  of  work  which 
is  about  to  be  opened  to  them,  provided  that  they 
are  fitted  for  it. 

"  In  these  new  libraries,  I  propose  to  provide 
the  librarian  at  my  own  expense  for  the  first  two 
years,  thereby  insuring  the  judicious  management 
and  consequent  popularity  of  the  scheme. 

"A  librarian  who  has  the  missionary  spirit  can 
have,  in  a  small  town,  about  as  christianizing  an 
influence  as  a  home  missionary.  She  will  make 
the  library  a  pleasant  place,  where  quietness  and 
good  manners  are  the  rule,  and  every  one  is  made 
to  feel  at  home  ;  she  will  offer  wise  suggestions  as 
to  the  selection  of  books,  and  give  occasional  talks 
on  authors  and  good  literature. 

"  I  mean  to  send  out  strong,  earnest,  college- 
bred  young  women,  who  will  take  a  missionary 
view  of  their  work,  and  make  it  a  means  of  great 
good.  I  shall  pay  them  well,  and,  as  their  terms 
expire,  shall  transfer  them  from  one  place  to  an- 
other to  do  pioneer  work,  varying  their  salary 
according  to  the  amount  of  work  done. 

"My  reason  for  choosing  women  for  the  work 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE,         205 

is,  that  I  think  them  to  be  more  faithful  and  con- 
scientious than  men,  as  a  rule,  and  to  have  more 
tact  and  knowledge  of  detail.  Besides,  there  are 
more  capable  women  than  men  who  would  be  bene- 
fited by  the  money  and  experience. 

"  I  am  especially  interested  in  the  success  of  my 
scheme  in  the  South,  where  a  circulating  library, 
open  to  every  one  without  distinction  of  race  or 
sex,  is  an  almost  if  not  quite  an  unheard-of  thing. 

"The  scarcity  of  reading  matter  among  both 
colored  and  white  teachers,  to  say  nothing  of  other 
people,  is  something  fairly  startling,  and  my  agents 
in  the  Southern  states  will  probably  be  compelled 
to  adopt  somewhat  different  measures  from  those 
used  in  the  West. 

"  A  circulation  of  magazines  and  papers  will  be 
necessary  in  sparsely  settled  districts,  where  people 
would  otherwise  have  to  walk  two  or  three  miles 
to  get  any  benefit  from  a  reading-room. 

"  Suppose,  for  instance,  there  is  a  little  com- 
munity of  fifty  families,  both  black  and  white, 
whose  cabins  and  clearings  are  scattered  over  an 
area  five  miles  square.  There  are  hundreds  of 
such  places  in  the  South  where  the  people  are 
completely  out  of  the  world,  and  where  not  one 
adult  in  five  sees  a  weekly  paper  regularly  or  could 
read  it  if  he  saw  it.  To  these  people,  up  on  the 
mountain  sides,  in  the  pine  forests  or  on  the  river- 
bottoms,  my 

BRAVE  NEW  ENGLAND  TEACHER 

will  go.     She  will  call  them  together  and  have  a 


206         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

meeting.  She  will  get  them  to  pledge,  say  fifty 
dollars  a  year,  and  to  this  she  will  add  another 
fifty.  Half  of  this,  perhaps,  will  go  for  periodi- 
cals, chiefly  illustrated  weeklies  and  magazines, 
and  the  remainder  will  be  paid  to  some  of  the 
more  enterprising  who  can  read,  and  who  will 
agree  to  hold  neighborhood  meetings  weekly.  The 
blacks  will  be  with  the  blacks,  and  the  whites  with 
the  whites,  probably,  and  the  reading  matter  will 
be  read  aloud  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

"  Some  responsible  committee  will  take  charge 
of  the  reception,  distribution,  and  preservation  of 
the  papers  and  magazines,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
year  they  will,  perhaps,  be  sold  at  auction  among 
the  contributors  to  the  fund. 

"  If  the  reading  matter  were  given  outright 
there  would  be  some  chance  against  the  success  of 
the  plan.  People  care  little  for  what  costs  them 
nothing.  But  having  had  to  sacrifice  something 
to  bring  it  about  they  will  think  it  worth  some- 
thing." 

"  What  would  you  do,  Miss  Brewster,"  the  writer 
inquired,  "  in  towns  where  reading-rooms  were  open 
to  both  whites  and  negroes  ?  Have  you  any  idea 
that  the  whites  would  tolerate  being  brought  into 
contact  with  blacks  on  a  par  in  a  public  reading- 
room  ?  " 

"  Probably  not,"  replied  Miss  Brewster ;  "  for 
racial  animosity  is  still  pretty  strong  in  most  sec- 
tions, I  imagine.  But  the  difficulty  could  be 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  MILLIONAIRE.         207 
\ 

EASILY   OBVIATED 

by  allowing  certain  days  or  certain  hours  for  one 
race  and  other  days  or  hours  for  the  other  race,  so 
that  all  could  be  benefited  without  setting  pre- 
judices too  much  at  defiance." 

At  this  juncture,  Miss  Brewster's  carriage  being 
announced,  the  extremely  interesting  interview 
was  terminated. 

BUGGSVILLE,    Mo. 

DEAR  FRIEND  :  The  trustees  told  me  that  they 
thought  you  would  be  glad  to  receive  a  letter  from 
me,  telling  you  something  about  my  experiences  in 
addition  to  the  official  report,  a  copy  of  which  they 
will  forward. 

Buggsville,  as  you  already  know,  is  the  first 
town  to  put  up  a  library  building  with  aid  from 
the  Western  and  Southern  Library  Fund.  There- 
fore I  naturally  feel  considerable  pride  and  in- 
terest in  this,  the  first-fruits  of  my  labors,  so  far 
as  the  erection  of  a  building  is  concerned. 

I  will  say,  by  the  way,  however,  that  I  have  been 
very  successful  in  starting  reading-rooms  in  the  lit- 
tle villages,  sixty-eight  little  towns  already  having 
'them  well  equipped  and  beginning  to  produce  a 
marked  result. 

Three  months  ago  we  started  a  reading-room  at 
Onetumka,  ten  miles  from  here.  The  people  were 
a  rough,  ignorant  set,  for  the  most  part.  A  good 
many  foreigners  are  there,  and  a  number  of  land 


208         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

speculators  and  some  mill  hands,  for  they  have  a 
good  water-power,  and  are  already  beginning  to  do 
a  little  manufacturing. 

It  was  really  one  of  the  most  hopeless  places  I 
have  ever  seen.  The  bad  element  had  got  the 
upper  hand  from  the  first.  There  were  five  sa- 
loons, and  several  low  dance-halls  and  pool-rooms. 
There  was  no  resident  minister,  and  they  had 
preaching  only  once  in  two  weeks  by  an  over- 
worked Baptist  preacher  with  much  goodwill  and 
little  tact  in  managing  so  difficult  a  community. 

I  always  make  it  a  point  to  get  the  ministers  to 
help  me  first  of  all,  but  here  it  was  useless.  So  I 
appealed  to  the  school-teacher,  the  doctor,  and  the 
mill-owner.  The  latter  took  little  interest,  although 
I  assured  him  that  anything  that  could  entice  his 
workmen  from  the  saloon  would  make  them  serve 
him  better. 

The  little  school-mistress  talked  to  her  children 
about  it,  but  with  no  success  ;  the  doctor  was  in- 
different, and,  as  I  had  a  more  promising  field  else- 
where, I  stayed  in  the  town  only  a  few  days. 

But  presently  the  county  papers  began  to  be  full 
of  the  library  business,  and  I  was  asked  to  speak 
here  and  there  in  the  little  schoolhouses  and 
churches.  At  first  I  trembled  at  facing  an  audi- 
ence of  one  or  two  hundred,  but  I  had  not  been  a 
school-ma'am  for  nothing,  and  I  soon  got  over  that, 
at  last  finding  myself  no  more  afraid  of  them  than 
of  my  fifty  boys  and  girls  in  the  old  school-room  at 
home. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          209 

I  found  that  this  was  the  best  way  to  arouse  in- 
terest. I  gave  them  a  practical  talk,  told  them 
about  book  clubs,  Chatauqua  circles  and  other 
things,  and  suggested  ways  and  means  of  raising 
money.  Most  of  them  live  pretty  comfortably, 
but  money  is  scarce,  and  I  find  that  most  of  the 
farms  are  mortgaged.  Generally,  however,  I  found 
some  degree  of  enthusiasm,  especially  among  the 
women,  when  they  learned  that  after  the  first 
month  it  could  be  so  arranged  that  the  magazines 
might  be  taken  from  the  reading-room  and  cir- 
culated. 

You  can't  imagine  how  many  times  I  have  heard 
some  tired  farmer's  wife  say,  often  with  tears  in 
her  eyes,  "  Miss  Martyn,  this  '11  be  a  godsend  to 
me.  I  never  get  time  to  go  anywhere,  or  to  sit 
down  and  read  a  book ;  but  if  I  could  have  that '  St. 
Nicholas '  or  '  Wide  Awake '  for  the  children,  or 
just  sit  down  once  in  a  while  and  read  an  article, 
or  simply  look  at  those  beautiful  pictures  in  '  Har- 
per's '  and '  The  Century,'  I  feel  as  though  I  should 
n't  get  so  discouraged  with  the  work." 

"  Sometimes  I  feel  as  if  I  was  forgetting  all  I 
ever  knew,  and  the  children  are  growing  up  so 
rough  and  don't  know  about  any  other  kind  of 
life,"  they  will  say,  in  a  troubled  way,  and  I  feel 
sorry  enough  for  them.  In  many  cases  these  wo- 
men before  coming  west  have  had  good  educations, 
and  this  monotonous  life,  in  which  there  is  so  little 
mental  stimulus,  is  terribly  hard  for  them  to  bear. 

Well,  after  a  while,  Onetumka  heard  what  the 


210         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

other  towns  near  by  were  doing,  and  one  or  two  of 
the  mill  hands  wrote  me  that  they  had  been  around 
collecting  money  and  had  secured  fifty  dollars, 
beside  gaining  the  free  use  of  a  suitable  room. 
So  I  went  there  and  succeeded  in  raising  the  sum 
to  seventy-five  dollars,  to  which  I  added  as  much 
more.  Then  I  managed  to  get  the  selection  of  the 
periodicals  myself,  and  excluded  the  "  Police  Ga- 
zette "  and  some  others  that  had  been  asked  for. 
As  there  is  a  large  number  of  Germans  here,  I  sub- 
scribed for  several  German  publications ;  also  for 
a  generous  list  of  illustrated  papers  of  a  harmless 
sort,  knowing  that  "Puck"  and  "Life  "  would  be 
better  appreciated  than  the  "  Fortnightly  "  or  the 
"Contemporary."  Then  I  saw  that  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  provide  voluntary  service  in  look- 
ing after  the  room  and  circulating  the  magazines. 
I  arranged  that  the  reading-room  should  be  open 
and  some  one  in  attendance  on  Sunday  afternoon 
and  evening,  as  that  is  the  time  when  the  men 
have  a  little  leisure  and  the  saloons  do  a  great 
business. 

In  no  place  has  there  been  so  marked  a  result  as 
in  Onetumka.  A  record  is  kept  of  the  attendance, 
and  it  has  averaged  seventy-five  every  day. 

"  The  reading-room  is  really  a  means  of  grace," 
the  minister  writes.  I  myself  am  aware  of  that, 
and  shall  not  fail  to  keep  them  stimulated  until 
they  have  a  good  library. 

I  started  a  reading-room  at  Buggsville  during 
my  first  six  weeks  in  the  state.  Here  I  found  good 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          211 

ground  for  work.  Most  of  the  people  were  ambi- 
tious, and  some  of  the  young  ladies  had  formed  a 
Chatauqua  circle,  the  only  one  that  I  have  found 
thus  far. 

There  were  three  little  feeble  churches,  Metho- 
dist, Presbyterian,  and  Baptist,  each  having  about 
half  a  congregation,  and  each  Unable  by  itself  to 
support  a  minister  decently.  They  were  willing  to 
make  sacrifices  for  the  library,  however.  I  sug- 
gested that  while  waiting  for  the  new  building  they 
should  make  use  of  the  vestry  of  the  Methodist 
church.  This  is  a  large  and  well-lighted  room,  and 
at  a  slight  expense  for  shelves  could  accommodate 
as  many  books  as  we  could  buy,  and  also  serve 
excellently  for  a  reading-room.  I  found,  however, 
that  this  aroused  a  good  deal  of  sectarian  feeling 
and  would  not  do.  The  Presbyterians  and  Bap- 
tists said  that  if  their  children  should  get  accus- 
tomed to  going  there  during  the  week  they  would 
want  to  go  there  on  Sunday,  and  their  own  Sunday- 
schools  would  dwindle.  In  order  to  leave  their 
vestry  to  be  used  solely  as  a  reading-room,  I  sug- 
gested that  the  Methodist  Sunday-school  should 
meet  at  the  Baptist  church,  holding  its  session  at 
an  hour  when  the  two  Sunday-schools  should  not 
conflict.  But  this,  I  discovered,  was  even  worse 
in  the  minds  of  these  would-be  Christians,  who 
were  so  afraid  of  each  other,  and  I  found  that  I 
was  sowing  discord  instead  of  harmony. 

At  this  juncture,  fearing  to  lose  all  help  from 
me  if  they  did  not  bestir  themselves,  one  man  gave 


212          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

a  lot  100  X  200  feet,  on  condition  that  a  building 
should  be  put  up  within  a  year  ;  another  who  owned 
a  quarry  offered  stone  for  the  building ;  the  town 
voted  to  give  one  thousand  dollars,  and  the  young 
people,  thus  encouraged,  set  to  work  earnestly,  and 
by  fairs  and  entertainments  added  considerably 
more.  I  cheered  them  on  with  the  inspiriting 
assurance  that  every  cent  they  earned  meant  two 
for  the  library.  The  enthusiasm  and  good  spirit, 
when  they  got  fairly  at  work,  were  marvelous,  and 
the  people  were  drawn  together  in  a  way  to  make 
them  forget  their  differences  in  their  zeal  for  the 
common  good. 

I  found  a  good  deal  of  strong  opposition  to  hav- 
ing the  building  open  on  Sunday.  I  had  asked  that 
the  reading-room  might  be  open  on  Sunday  after- 
noons when  there  was  no  church  service,  knowing 
that  this  would  prevent  a  good  deal  of  lounging  on 
street  corners,  and,  moreover,  subdue  much  dis- 
order among  a  set  of  restless  street  youth  who  are 
fast  becoming  a  terror  to  the  town ;  but  after  a 
great  deal  of  discussion  and  hot  blood  over  the 
matter,  the  conservatives  won  the  day. 

Yesterday  the  building  was  dedicated,  and  I  was 
requested  to  give  one  of  the  eight  addresses  on  the 
great  occasion.  The  whole  town  turned  out,  and 
it  was  a  gala  day.  The  stores  were  closed,  and 
after  a  grand  procession,  led  by  a  German  band 
hired  from  a  neighboring  town  for  the  celebration, 
we  proceeded  to  the  library,  which  is  really  the 
most  beautiful  building  in  Buggsvjlle, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         213 

Every  one  felt  a  pride  and  personal  interest  in  it, 
from  the  two  solid  men  of  the  town  who  had  given 
the  land  and  the  stone,  and  were  consequently  the 
heroes  of  the  day,  down  to  the  small  boys  and  girls 
who  had  all  given  their  coppers.  I  felt  that  every 
one  in  town  was  my  friend,  and  as  I  rode  in  state 
in  the  procession  in  a  mud-bespattered  buggy,  the 
boys  cheered,  the  bells  rang,  and  I  think  every  one 
felt  that  a  new  era  had  begun.  The  farmers'  boys 
and  their  "  best  girls  "  came  in  from  all  the  coun- 
try around,  and  I  can't  describe  to  you  all  the  droll 
and  pathetic  sights  I  saw. 

I  gave  them  a  little  talk  on  "  Books  and  how  to 
use  them,"  as  short  and  as  sensible  as  I  could  make 
it.  At  its  close  a  white-haired  old  man,  whom  I 
had  never  seen  before,  came  and  took  me  by  the 
hand,  and  said  in  a  simple,  childlike  way :  "  Miss 
Martyn,  I  want  to  ask  you  to  tell  that  rich  young 
lady  who  has  made  this  thing  possible  for  us  here 
to-day  that  the  blessing  of  an  old  man  rests  upon 
her. 

"  I  was  born  down  in  Maine,  and  never  had 
much  schooling.  I  came  to  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try fifty-five  years  ago.  My  folks  were  killed  by 
the  Indians.  It  was  mighty  different  here  fifty- 
five  years  ago,  I  can  tell  you,  Miss  Martyn  ;  there 
were  Indians  all  about  then,  and  wolves  too.  We 
had  taken  up  government  land,  and  after  the  old 
folks  were  killed  I  kept  on  the  place  as  long  as  I 
could  stand  it,  for  the  Indians  had  by  that  time 
been  driven  off,  and  there  was  no  more  danger.  It 


214         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

was  awful  lonesome,  though.  There  was  n't  a  soul 
within  twelve  miles  to  speak  to.  Sometimes  I 
thought  I  should  go  insane  from  lonesorneness. 

"  I  had  only  two  books,  —  my  mother's  little  Tes- 
tament, and  another  book :  perhaps  you  've  heard 
of  it :  't  was  '  Locke  on  the  Human  Understand- 
ing.' Well,  I  'd  always  been  fond  of  books. 
Somehow  I  never  took  to  farming,  and  sometimes 
I  felt  as  if  I  'd  give  every  acre  I  had  for  a  new 
book,  or  a  newspaper  that  would  tell  me  what  was 
going  on  in  the  world ;  something  that  would  give 
me  new  thoughts ;  I  was  so  tired  of  thinking  the 
old  ones  over  and  over. 

"  The  fellows  who  were  my  nearest  neighbors 
were  n't  my  kind ;  they  had  n't  any  books,  and,  if 
you  '11  believe  it,  I  've  ridden  many  a  time  fifty 
miles  to  get  a  newspaper  a  week  old. 

"  Well,  at  last  I  could  n't  stand  it  any  longer. 
I  was  ashamed  to  ask  any  woman  to  be  my  wife, 
and  to  come  out  and  live  in  my  dreary  log  cabin, 
even  if  I  'd  known  any  woman  to  ask,  but  I  did  n't. 
Unmarried  women  were  scarce  in  those  days.  At 
last  I  sold  all  the  land  for  a  song,  —  I  should  have 
been  rich  now  if  I  'd  only  kept  it,  —  and  I  moved 
a  little  nearer  folks. 

"  I  knew  my  Bible,  and  at  last,  though  I  had  n't 
much  education,  I  began  to  go  around  preaching. 
But  a  home  missionary  without  a  salary  has  not 
much  money  or  time  for  books ;  besides,  before  the 
railroad,  I  could  n't  get  books  any  way  if  I  'd  had 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         215 

money,  and  sometimes  I  —  perhaps  you  won't  be- 
lieve it,  ma'am,  but  I  've  actually  cried  for  books, 
I  felt  so  sort  of  hungry  and  starved.  I  was  thirty 
years  old  before,  to  my  knowledge,  I  ever  saw  a 
book  of  poetry.  It  was  Longfellow's.  Well, 
ma'am,  that  book  —  I  can't  tell  you  "  —  and  the 
old  man's  blue  eyes  filled  with  tears  and  his  voice 
choked. 

His  simple,  genuine  feeling  was  so  sweet  and  so 
unexpected  that  it  fairly  thrilled  me.  I  think  I 
never  realized  in  my  life  before  what  mental  star- 
vation must  be  to  a  sensitive  spirit.  When  I  took 
him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  around  to  see  all  the 
books  nicely  covered  and  numbered  on  the  shelves, 
he  could  only  smile  through  his  tears,  and  touching 
them  almost  reverently,  say,  "  Thank  the  Lord  !  I 
never  expected  to  live  to  see  so  many  books.  Thank 
the  Lord!" 

I  inquired  afterwards  who  he  was,  but  no  one 
knew ;  they  said  he  was  a  stranger  who  had  come 
there  simply  for  the  day.  I  am  sorry  to  have  lost 
sight  of  him  ;  he  was  a  rare  soul,  I  am  sure. 

I  did  the  best  I  could  with  the  money  that  you 
sent  as  a  special  gift  for  the  first  library.  I  sent  to 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  and  bought  their  large 
lithographs  of  the  American  poets,  and  had  them 
nicely  framed  in  narrow  oak  frames,  and  hung 
around  the  reading-room,  with  a  little  biographical 
sketch  pinned  up  underneath  each  one.  The  rest 
of  the  money  I  spent  for  a  number  of  unmounted 
photographs  from  Soule's,  which  I  taught  the  young 


216         MEMOIRS    OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

people  here  to  mount  and  arrange  in  home-made 
frames.  No  doubt,  most  of  them  would  have  been 
much  better  pleased  with  some  cheap  chromos,  but 
I  thought  of  what  would  please  them  best  ten  years 
from  now,  and  planned  for  that. 

They  have  already  projected,  at  my  suggestion,  a 
course  of  reading  in  the  history  of  art ;  and  whereas 
a  year  ago  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  get 
most  of  the  young  people  to  undertake  anything 
really  serious,  they  now  evidently  consider  it  quite 
the  thing.  All  this  greatly  encourages  me,  espe- 
cially as  I  see  hopeful  signs  of  the  good  fashion 
spreading. 

This  is  a  long  letter,  but  I  know  your  warm  in- 
terest in  all  the  details  of  this  work,  so  I  make  no 
apology,  and  congratulate  myself  that  you  will  con- 
sider it  a  signal  success  to  have  one  building  all 
equipped  and  in  running  order  in  eight  months 
from  the  time  when  you  indorsed  the  scheme. 
Ever  yours  faithfully, 

HANNAH  MARTYN. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

"  Shall  not  that  Western  Goth  of  whom  we  spoke, 
So  fiercely  practical,  so  keen  of  eye, 
Find  out  some  day,  that  nothing  pays  hut  God  ?  " 

(Cathedral.)    LOWELL. 

(Extract  from  the  "  Chicago  Inter-Ocean.") 

GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  !  HOW  A  BOSTON  BEAUTY 
PROPOSES  TO  BRING  IT  ABOUT  !  ANTIDOTE 
FOR  ANARCHISM  ! 

IN  the  arrival  in  our  city  last  week  of  the  rich 
Miss  Brewster  of  Boston,  society  has  naturally  felt 
a  warm  interest.  First,  because  she  is  young  and 
charming ;  secondly,  because  she  is  reputed  fabu- 
lously wealthy;  and  thirdly,  because  she  adds  to 
these  attractions  a  decided  mind  of  her  own,  which 
has  fortunately  turned  itself  in  the  direction  of  al- 
leviating some  of  the  woes  of  human-kind. 

But  the  pertinacious  reticence  maintained  by 
herself  and  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  are  her 
traveling  companions,  and  are  understood  to  be 
en  route  for  Alaska,  has  given  our  reporter  more 
than  one  fruitless  trip  to  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

It  is  currently  rumored  that  more  than  one 

EUROPEAN    CORONET 

has  been  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  bonny  belle  from 


218         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Beacon  Hill,  but,  like  the  sensible  little  Puritan 
maiden  that  she  is,  she  prefers  to  keep  the  reins  in 
her  own  hands  a  little  longer,  and  her  millions  will 
not  at  present  pass  to  any  of  the  bloated  aristocracy 
of  an  effete  despotism  of  the  Old  World. 

It  was  ascertained  yesterday  from  the  waiters 
that  the  great  parlors  of  the  hotel  had  been  en- 
gaged by  Miss  Brewster  for  a  large  reception  to 
some  of  our  most  eminent  citizens,  chiefly  in  the 
clerical  walks  of  life.  So  a  reporter  in  a  ministe- 
rial rig  presented  himself,  was  admitted,  and  taking 
refuge  in  a  camp-chair  at  the  rear  of  perhaps  two 
hundred  and  fifty  ladies  and  gentlemen,  had  a  fair 
opportunity  to  report  proceedings. 

He  soon  discovered  that  the  reception  was  noth- 
ing more  than  a  business  meeting  convened  for  the 
purpose  of  listening  to  some  address  or  discussion, 
the  guests  being  seated  facing  a  slightly  raised 
platform. 

The  assemblage  seemed  to  be  chiefly  composed 
of  gentlemen,  and  every  profession  and  sect  was 
represented  by  some  of  its  most  eminent  members. 

At  precisely  eight  o'clock  Miss  Brewster,  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  Dr.  T ,  entered  at  a  side  door. 

They  proceeded  to  the  platform  and  took  seats  in 
two  velvet  armchairs  which  were  placed  in  readi- 
ness. 

Miss  Brewster  was  simply  dressed  in  white,  with 
a  corsage  bouquet  of  yellow  roses  and  a  yellow  rose 
in  her  dark  hair. 

As  Dr.  T rose  to  speak,  the  chatter  ceased, 

and  he  said : 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         219 

"  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

"  Each  one  of  you  present  has  received  a  note  of 
invitation  requesting  your  presence  here  this  even- 
ing for  the  consideration  of  a  plan  which  shall  be 
of  benefit  to  our  city.  This  plan,  as  it  will  be  un- 
folded to  you 

BY  ITS   ORIGINATOR, 

will,  I  think,  command  your  heartiest  sympathy 
and  cooperation.  I  consider  it  a  peculiar  privilege 
to  present  to  you  this  evening  one  whose  noble 
father  was  my  valued  friend,  and  who  in  her  ear- 
liest years  was  well  known  to  me  ;  and  now  that  she 
returns  to  what  was  for  a  few  months  the  home  of 
her  childhood,  it  is  with  great  pleasure  that  at  her 
request  I  have  summoned  here  to-night  so  many 
representatives  of  the  thought  and  the  moral  force 
of  this  great  city  to  listen  to  what  she  has  to  pro- 
pose, and  in  return  to  give  her  the  benefit  of  their 
united  wisdom. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  present  to  you  Miss  Mil- 
dred Brewster  of  Boston." 

Every  eye  was  fixed  in  admiration  on  the  slender, 
girlish  form  that  had  something  queenly  in  its  bear- 
ing, and  there  was  a  rustle  of  expectancy  as  Dr. 
T ceased  and  Miss  Brewster  rose  to  speak. 

There  was  a  slight  tremor  in  her  voice  as  with 
deepening  color  and  drooping  eyes  she  uttered  her 
first  words. 

"Good  friends,"  she  said,  "I  have  asked  you 
here  to-night  for  a  specific  purpose. 


220         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  In  the  providence  of  God  there  has  been 
placed  in  my  hands  within  the  last  few  months  the 
means  to  do  much  that  for  years  I  have  felt  ought 
to  be  done,  but  have  been  powerless  to  do.  And 
fearing  lest  my  stewardship  be  short,  and  I  be 
called  to  give  account  and  return  with  empty  hands 
and  no  fruit  garnered,  I  have  dared  not  delay,  no, 
not  for  a  day,  except  to  more  seriously  and  wisely 
prepare  for  my  task." 

Miss  Brewster  gained  courage  as  she  proceeded, 
and  in  a  clear,  unshaken  voice  continued : 

"  In  all  lands  on  which  the  sun  ever  shone,  prob- 
ably there  was  never  a  time  when  money  wisely  ex- 
pended could  set  in  play  so  many  and  such  power- 
ful forces  for  good  as  it  can  do  now  and  here. 
For  here,  in  this  western  land  of  unlimited  possi- 
bilities, is  the  young  giant  born  whose  savage 
strength  may  prove  our  nation's  weakness  if  we 
leave  his  infant  years  to  the  guidance  of  his  own 
wayward  will. 

"  Here,  then,  is  the  sorest  present  need  in  our 
land  to-day,  for  here  in  our  hands  lies  the  power  to 
mould  the  influences  which  shall  shape  the  destiny 
of  millions  yet  unborn.  One  hundred  dollars  now 
may  prevent  the  evil  which,  a  century  hence,  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  could  not  undo. 

"  As  I  have  driven  about  your  magnificent  boule- 
vards and  marked  your  towers  and  palaces,  I  have 
been  impressed  even  more  than  I  expected  to  be, 
and  my  expectations  were  great,  with  your  wealth, 
and  its  solid,  satisfactory  embodiment  in  enduring 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          221 

architecture  and  fine  parks  and  streets.  But  not 
only  has  your  material  advancement  amazed  me.  I 
have  been  most  profoundly  impressed  with  the  se- 
riousness of  mind  and  the  depth  of  patriotic  feeling 
that  was  shown  in  your  notable  celebration  of  the 
centennial  of  the  beginning  of  our  constitutional 
government. 

"  Historic  old  Boston,  that  of  all  other  cities 
should  have  appreciated  the  significance  of  the 
occasion,  gave  hardly  a  thought  to  the  day.  New 
York  gave  herself  to  ostentatious  pageantry  and  a 
glorification  of  Washington  alone ;  but  in  this  new 
city  of  the  West,  unlinked  by  historic  ties  with  the 
past,  have  I  found  in  press  and  people  a  deeper 
sentiment  and 

A   MORE   THOUGHTFUL   READING 

of  the  lessons  of  the  century. 

"  I  have  been  studying  this  wonderful  city  of 
yours  that  buys  more  of  Browning's  poems  than 
any  other  city  in  the  world,  and  is  fast  drawing  to 
itself  not  only  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  land, 
but  that  culture  of  which  our  older  cities  have  fan- 
cied themselves  the  almost  exclusive  possessors. 

"  I  have  been  looking  at  your  schools,  your 
churches,  your  philanthropies,  and,  above  all,  at 
your  poor,  and  that  class  from  which  your 

ANARCHISTS   AND    CRIMINALS 

are  recruited. 

"  I  have  found,  as  I  need  not  say,  much  to  admire 


222         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

and  much  to  deplore.  And  it  is  to  consider  those 
tendencies  which  I  deplore  that  I  ask  your  atten- 
tion this  evening. 

"  Of  all  the  dangers  that  threaten  us  as  a  nation, 
I  find  but  two  unrepresented  in  this  city,  namely, 
Mormonism,  and  the  amalgamation  of  the  white  and 
other  races.  But  against  intemperance,  licentious- 
ness, political  corruption,  and  all  the  evils  incident 
to  a  vast  foreign  population,  this  city,  with  its  num- 
bers increasing  by  gigantic  strides,  presents  a  field 
for  work  scarcely  exampled  on  the  continent.  Not 
that  Chicago  is  a  sinner  above  all  other  cities.  In 
some  respects,  notably  its  comparative  freedom 
from  the  close  crowding  in  tenement  houses  which 
exists  in  New  York,  it  is  fortunate. 

"  But,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  not  another  great 
city  on  the  continent  contains  so  large  a  proportion 
of- people  of 

FOREIGN  PARENTAGE. 

In  driving  through  your  beautiful  avenues  one  can 
scarcely  credit  the  statement  that  only  nine  per 
cent,  of  your  people  are  of  strictly  native  parent- 
age ;  but  in  going  through  that  section  on  the  North 
side  where  your  Poles  and  Bohemians  live  —  in  see- 
ing the  Irish,  Swedes,  Germans,  and  more  recently 
the  Italians,  who  are  flocking  to  your  city,  one  is 
made  to  realize  this  in  a  measure.  It  is  to  this 
point  that  I  chiefly  wish  to  call  your  attention. 

"  This  city  is  growing  prodigiously  ;  it  is  destined 
to  grow.  More  and  more,  as  means  of  communica- 
tion and  transportation  are  increased,  as  you  well 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         223 

know,  are  the  people  of  this  age  flocking  to  the 
cities.  One  hundred  years  ago  one  in  thirty  lived 
in  a  city  ;  now  one  in  four  is  the  number  which  the 
census  gives  us.  Especially  is  it  true  that  foreign- 
ers prefer  city  life.  In  far  greater  numbers  pro- 
portionately to  the  native  population  do  they  con- 
gregate in  the  centre  of  wealth,  influence,  and 
political  power,  and  often  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining that  political  power  which  through  the 
negligence  and  indifference  of  our  better  class  of 
men  is  readily  yielded  to  their  demands. 

"Now  that  the  municipal  government  in  our 
great  cities  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  foreign- 
born,  for  which  we  have  only  ourselves  to  thank, 
we  are  beginning  to  awaken  to  the  fact,  and  the 
indignant  cry  '  America  for  Americans  '  is  heard. 
With  this  I  cannot  wholly  sympathize.  We  have 
opened  our  doors  to  the  world,  we  have  invited  to 
our  highest  municipal  offices  whoever  could  buy 
them,  we  have  been  eager  to  get  rich,  we  have  had 
no  time  or  interest  in  anything  beyond  satisfying 
our  imperious  appetite  for  wealth  and  luxury  and 
social  position. 

"  We  have  put  behind  us  simplicity  and  calm- 
ness, the  plain  living  and  high  thinking  which  en- 
gendered all  that  we  count  best  in  our  history,  and 
now  we  cry  with  ever  increasing  wail,  '  Let  us  eat 
our  cake  and  have  it.'  '  Let  us  spend  our  whole 
life  in  selfish  indifference  to  the  public  weal ;  let  us 
turn  over  our  most  sacred  trusts  into  the  hands  of 
ignorance  and  incompetence,  and  then  let  us  reap 


224         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

what  we  have  not  sowed  and  garner  where  we  have 
not  planted.' 

"  No,  not  America  for  the  Americans,  if  it  be 
such  Americans !  Rather  let  those  who  have  been 
willing  slaves 

FEEL  THE  WHIP  AND   THE   SHACKLES 

until  they  learn  that  justice  and  peace  and  right- 
eousness within  our  borders  are  not  to  be,  except 
as  the  fruit  of  their  love,  their  labor,  and  their  eter- 
nal vigilance.  [Applause.] 

"  No,  not  America  for  Americans,  but  America 
for  American  ideas  and  institutions  !  And  welcome 
be  he,  whether  of  our  own  land  or  any  other,  who, 
seeing  what  God  has  destined  this  fair  land  to  be 
as  leader  of  the  nations,  seeing  it  as  its  early 
Founders  saw  it,  shall  give  heart  and  brain  and 
hand  to  purifying  and  redeeming  it,  lest  indeed  it 
be  the  land  of  '  Broken  Promise.' 

"  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  foreigners  as  for- 
eigners, but  I  look  into  our  criminal  reports  and 
find  by  a  careful  search  that  the  proportion  of 
criminals  to  the  foreign  population  is  just  about 
twice  that  to  the  native.  I  learn  that  among  our 
foreigners  we  find  about  two  thirds  of  our  brew- 
ers, distillers,  and  liquor-sellers,  and  among  these 
varied  nationalities,  who  have  sustained  the  break- 
ing up  of  old  ties  and  transplanting  to  utterly  new 
conditions,  a  far  greater  tendency  to  insanity  than 
among  the  native  stock.  I  see  that  the  causes 
which  tend  to  immigration  will  in  all  probability 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         225 

continue,  and  the  influx  into  our  great  cities,  espe- 
cially your  own  favorably  situated  one,  advance  in- 
definitely. Therefore,  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  of 
all  places  in  this  land  Chicago  was  the  best  one  in 
which  to  begin  a  concerted  action  for  the  Ameri- 
canization of  its  foreigners  and  for  promoting  the 

GOOD   CITIZENSHIP 

of  all  its  citizens  whether  native  or  foreign.  It 
seems  to  me  we  must  do  this  in  self-preservation. 

"  In  Boston,  as  you  know,  where  we  have  had  to 
learn  some  sad  lessons  from  our  careless  indiffer- 
ence in  regard  to  municipal  matters,  we  have  begun 
to  arouse  ourselves  and  have  established  a  Society 
for  Promoting  Good  Citizenship  whose  object  is 
to  further  in  all  thinking  people,  mothers,  voters, 
teachers,  and  students,  a  higher  ideal  of  citizenship 
and  an  active,  unpartisan  effort  for  its  realization. 

"  This  work  is  done  in  various  ways :  by  free  lec- 
tures given  by  prominent  citizens,  by  suggestions 
for  study  in  schools  and  colleges,  and  by  the  encour- 
agement of  a  deeper  interest  in  the  community  in 
the  study  of  history,  civil  government,  and  political 
economy.  The  society  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  has 
thus  far  produced  little  perceptible  effect ;  but,  in 
addition  to  the  well-known  Old  South  work  in  his- 
tory, it  shows  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 

"  Long  before  it  was  started  it  had  been 

MY   DREAM 

to  see  something  of  a  similar  tendency  established 


226         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

in  every  large  city  in  our  land,  and  it  is  because  I 
wish  to  suggest  to  you  certain  measures  which  have 
in  view  the  attainment  of  good  citizenship  in  your 
midst  that  I  am  here  to-night. 

"  A  Chicago  gentleman  recently  said  to  me, '  The 
fact  is,  we  get  careless  here.  We  are  so  busy  about 
our  own  private  affairs  that  we  let  our  voting  go 
by  for  a  year  or  two,  till  finally  about  once  in  seven 
years  things  get  so  bad  we  can't  stand  it,  and  then 
we  all  get  mad  and  roll  up  our  sleeves  and  go  in 
and  have  a  general  clearing  out.  After  that,  things 
work  well  for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  are  as  bad 
as  ever.' 

"  I  understand  that  at  present  you  have  a  fairly 
good  city  government,  that  your  leading  officials 
for  the  most  part  are  not  corrupt.  But  even  if  this 
were  sure  of  lasting,  of  what  a  thing  to  boast ! 

"  In  the  minds  of  too  many  I  find  the  idea  seems 
to  prevail  that  so  long  as  taxation  is  not  raised,  and 
there  is  a  police  force  competent  to  quell  turbulent 
strikers,  and  no  infamous  scandal  at  the  City  Hall, 
so  long  there  is  nothing  else  to  be  done  in  the  line 
of  good  citizenship  than  to  cast  one's  vote,  pay  one's 
taxes,  and  keep  one's  sidewalk  clean. 

"  Now  I  hold  that  such  a  conception  of  the  du- 
ties of  citizenship  is  unworthy  a  Christian  and  a 
patriot,  and  it  is  as  Christians  and  patriots  that  I 
am  addressing  you. 

"  I  am  not  here  to  remind  you  of  the  unequaled 
folly  and  expense  of  bad  government,  and  to  point 
out  to  you  the  material  benefits  accruing  to  a  city 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         227 

where  there  is  a  pure  and  economical  city  govern- 
ment and  an  incorruptible  court.  '* 

"  I  am  not  here  to  speak  to  you  on  the  ground 
of  mere  utility  and  expediency,  though  with  a  dif- 
ferent audience  such  arguments  might  hold  the 
first  place.  But  I  speak  to  you  as  scholars,  as  men 
and  women  of  insight  who  need  not  to  be  reminded 
that  the  state,  as  one  of  the  three  great  human  in- 
stitutions by  which  civilized  man  has  differentiated 
himself  from  the  savage,  has  higher  functions  than 
those  which  appeal  most  forcibly  to  the  ordinary 
man  and  woman  of  to-day. 

"  We  live  in  a 

MATERIALISTIC   ATMOSPHERE, 

where  the  things  of  the  senses  allure  far  more  than 
the  things  of  thought,  where  a  man  of  ideals  is 
laughed  at  by  the  majority  as  an  unpractical  theo- 
rist, and  shrewdness  is  esteemed  the  highest  virtue. 

u  I  have  been  looking  over  your  school  reports 
and  have  been  noting  the  disproportionate  number 
of  girls  who  are  graduated. 

"  Your  boys  and  young  men  are  impatient  for 
business.  Even  those  in  well-to-do  families  leave 
school  very  early.  I  find  that  ninety-two  per  cent, 
of  your  children  leave  school  before  they  ever  study 
any  text-book  of  history,  and  that  seventy-five  per 
cent,  leave  before  they  reach  the  grade  where  a  lit- 
tle historic  information  is  given  through  the  aid  of 
biographical  sketches  and  stories. 

"Think  of  it !    Seventy-five  per  cent.,  the  major- 


228         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

ity  of  them  our  future  voters,  who  have  never  so 
much  as  heard  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  or  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  and  who  have  far  too  feeble  an  ed- 
ucational equipment  to  lead  to  much  further  study ! 

"  But  even  of  those  who  have  some  smattering 
of  history  we  find  thousands  appearing  at  the  polls 
every  year,  having  heard  a  little  of  the  cant  and 
the  bluster  of  partisan  politics,  and  having  nothing 
more  to  fit  them  for  their  duties  as  citizens  in  a 
land  whose  national  and  state  and  city  governments 
they  have  never  studied. 

"  Moreover,  they  have  the  wildest  notions  in  re- 
gard to  those  great  questions  of  labor,  wages,  and 
reform  which  are  agitating  our  country.  Such  are 
the  men  who  hold  the  ignoble  conviction  that  every 
man  is  selfish  at  heart,  that  to  the  victors  belong 
the  spoils,  and  that  desire  for  office  is  inevitably 
ambition  for  personal  gain. 

"  You  have  learned  in  the  past  somewhat  of  the 
cost  to  this  city  and  state  of  the  presence  of  anar- 
chists within  your  midst.  But  what  are  you  doing 
to  make  good  citizens  of  the  thousands  of  men, 
women,  and  children  who  are  said  to  be  enrolled 
in  anarchist  Sunday-schools  here  in  this  city? 

"  What  is  being  done  to  prevent  the  children  of 
the  mob  that  tears  up  your  horse-car  tracks  when 
you  have  a  strike  from  following  ten  years  hence 
their  fathers'  example  ? 

• "  But  I  am  not  speaking  merely  of  rumsellers  or 
anarchists,  or  of  ignorant  foreigners  or  men  who 
sell  their  votes.  I  am  speaking  of  the  banker's 
sons  as  well  as  the  blacksmith's. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.         229 

"  There  is  among  many  of  the  hard-headed  young 
business  men  of  our  time  whom  I  have  met  a 

TERRIBLE   SKEPTICISM. 

They  are  skeptical  of  humanity,  of  virtue.  There 
is  a  belief  that  every  man  has  his  price,  that  poli- 
tics is  a  machine,  to  be  run  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  have  it  in  charge.  There  is,  even  among  hon- 
orable men,  a  tendency  to  joke  at  public  scandals, 
to  sneer  at  Sunday-school  politics  and  womanish 
ideals. 

"  Now,  to  me,  this  hard  and  cold  skepticism  be- 
tokens a  rottenness  and  a  corruption  in  the  body 
politic  scarcely  less  terrible  to  contemplate  than 
the  open,  high-handed  peculation  which  occasion- 
ally startles  the  community  and  forms  a  nine  days' 
wonder. 

"  For,  as  I  need  not  say,  a  sick  man  is  as  sure  to 
die  from  blood-poisoning  as  from  an  open  cancer. 
The  latter  may  shock  us  more,  but  the  former  is 
just  as  deadly.  And  the  danger  to  this  great  city 
to-day  is  not  so  much  from  the  dynamite  of  the 
anarchist  as  from  the  indifference  and  inactivity 
of  the  men  and  women  who  have  your  brains,  your 
wealth,  your  culture,  and  many  of  them  your  nomi- 
nal Christianity. 

"  Pardon  me  if  I  seem  to  be  addressing  you,  my 
elders  and  betters,  as  if  I  were  presuming  to  tell 
you  anything  new  or  anything  which  you  could  not 
state  quite  as  forcibly  as  I  may  do. 

"  It  is  not  that  I  have  anything  new  to  say  that  I 


230         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

venture  to  speak  thus,  but  that  I  may  clearly  state 
my  own  position  and  grounds  for  action  in  the 
matter  which  I  shall  soon  present  to  you. 

"  You  have  observed  that  I  have  used  the  more 
comprehensive  term  '  citizen  '  instead  of  '  voter,' 
and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have  used  it.  The 
duties  of  the  citizen  apply  to  every  one  who  is  a 
recipient  of  the  benefits  of  the  state,  and  this  in- 
cludes that  half  of  the  community  whom  their  own 
indifference  and  the 

PREJUDICES  AND  TRADITIONS 

of  the  majority  of  voters  still  exclude  from  their 
rightful  share  in  this  matter  of  public  housekeep- 
ing which  we  call  municipal  government. 

"It  is  the  duty  of  the  male  citizen  to  vote,  and 
not  only  to  vote,  but  to  attend  the  caucuses  which 
alone  insure  the  possibility  of  having  a  worthy 
candidate.  It  is  also  his  duty  to  pay  his  taxes  and 
keep  his  sidewalk  clean,  but  his  duty  does  not  end 
here.  It  is  his  imperative  duty  as  an  honorable 
citizen  to  see  that  this  subtle  poison,  which,  bred 
from  germs  of  selfishness  and  ignorance,  is  creep- 
ing through  the  veins  of  our  people,  shall  be  ar- 
rested ere  a  complete  social  upheaval  teach  us  the 
painful  lesson  that  vigilance  alone  is  the  price  of 
liberty. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  the  duty  of  the  citizen  is 
coextensive  with  life  and  opportunity.  It  is  not  a 
duty  which  the  man  or  woman  of  conscience  can 
lay  aside  between  election  days.  The  good  citizen 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         231 

must  be  always  a  refuter  of  error,  an  initiator  of 
reform,  in  short,  a  person  whose  conscience  gives 
him  no  rest  until  what  ought  to  be  has  been  substi- 
tuted for  what  is. 

"  The  good  citizen  must,  above  all,  have  such  a 
lofty  conception  of  the  state  and  of  statesmanship  as 
shall  lift  it  forever  above  the  moral  plane  where  it 
has  been  allowed  to  rest  by  the  average  conscience 
dulled  to  all  the  finer  moral  perceptions  by  the 
force  of  custom  and  conventionality. 

"  There  are  such  citizens.  I  see  many  of  them 
before  me  as  I  speak,  but  that  there  shall  be  a 
thousand  where  there  is  now  but  one,  am  I  here  to- 
night to  speak  to  you. 

"  And  now,  after  this  lengthy  prelude,  permit  me 
to  ask  your  attention  to  the  scheme  which  I  suggest 
for  helping  to  bring  about  in  this  city  a  higher 
standard  of  good  citizenship.  Pardon  a  bit  of  per- 
sonal experience. 

"  Scarcely  a  day  goes  by  in  which  I  am  not  impor- 
tuned by  various  worthy  beggars  to  give  thousands 
and  even  millions  to  endow  this  and  that  college, 
hospital,  and  asylum. 

"  The  last  project  which  was  proposed  to  me  was 
to  put  a  million  dollars  into  a  college  to  be  devoted 
to  fitting  poor  boys  for  the  ministry  free  of  ex- 
pense. And  my  importunate  beggar  was  greatly 
offended  when  I  said  that  I  should  consider  this 
one  of  the  best  means  for  promoting  hypocrisy  and 
dependence,  and  that  I  thought  a  few  scholarships 
wisely  distributed  in  colleges  of  repute  would  help 


232         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

the  ministry  more  than  a  million  dollars  expended 
chiefly  on  brick  and  mortar. 

"  '  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  your  money  ? 
Don't  you  think  you  ought  to  give  it  to  the 

LORD'S  POOR  ? ' 

I  was  asked  with  that  delightful  assumption  of 
authority  which  certain  people  who  have  the  assur- 
ance of  infallibly  knowing  the  mind  of  the  Lord 
always  adopt. 

"  '  Certainly,'  I  answered ;  '  but  the  Lord  has 
commissioned  me  to  spend  what  is  intrusted  to  me 
where  it  will  effect  the  best  results,  and  I  prefer  to 
put  the  next  money  that  I  spend  into  brains  rather 
than  into  bricks.' 

"  Now  I  propose  to  devote  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  during  the  next  ten  years  to  stim- 
ulating thought  in  this  city  in  the  direction  of  Good 
Citizenship.  [Applause.] 

"  I  shall  ask  a  committee  of  twenty-five  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  which  you  shall  choose  from  the 
number  present,  to  select  for  me  a  man  of  ripe  ex- 
perience, of  scholarship,  and  disinterested  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  which  I  have  spoken  —  a  man  of 
good  presence  and  address,  who  can  combine  the 
functions  of  business  manager  and  orator,  to  whom 
I  shall  pay  five  out  of  the  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
which  I  propose  to  devote  yearly  for  the  promotion 
of  good  citizenship  in  your  city. 

"  By  the  advice  and  consent  of  this  same  com- 
mittee, which  shall  constitute  itself  a  board  of  di- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         233 

rectors,  he  shall  spend  the  remaining  ten  thousand 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  work  in  hand. 

"  I  put  no  restrictions  on  this  expenditure  and 
lay  down  no  rules  of  conduct  beyond  making  the 
work  of  the  organization  absolutely  unpartisan  and 
unsectarian.  The  superintendent  elected  by  the 
directors  shall  be  free  to  use  such  methods  as  shall 
seem  fit  to  him,  being  however  held  responsible  to 
the  directors  and  removable  at  their  option. 

"Although  I  leave  everything  to  the  judgment 
of  the  directors,  I  wish  to  make  a  few  suggestions 
which  they  are  quite  free  to  accept  or  reject. 

"  First  I  suggest  that  for  this  work  the  city  be 
divided  into  various  districts,  and  that  each  church 
constitute  itself  a  centre  for  effective  work  in  some 
district,  so  that  workers  may  be  somewhat  equally 
distributed,  and  no  part  of  the  city  neglected. 
These  districts  need  not  be  based  necessarily  upon 
the  numbers  of  their  inhabitants,  but  upon  their 
needs. 

"I  would  urge  every  minister  either  in  or  out 
of  the  pulpit,  as  he  may  prefer,  to  make  clear  to 
his  congregation  the  purpose  of  this  organization 
which  is  to  be  formed,  and  himself  lead  his  people 
into  hearty  cooperation  with  it. 

"  I  know  that  there  are  some  well  -  meaning, 
religious  people  who  might  object  to  this,  dreading 
the  preaching  of  politics  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
diversion  of  the  attention  of  the  young  from  strictly 
religious  work.  They  prefer  to  have  everything 
pertaining  to  secular  education  debarred  from  the 
church-building. 


234          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 
"  To  me  such  people  seem 

SADLY   IRRELIGIOUS. 

I  wonder  that  they  can  read  their  Bibles  and  fail  to 
learn  from  the  examples  of  the  Hebrew  prophets 
what  God  would  have  man  say  concerning  the 
government  and  wise  ordering  of  a  Ibacksliding 
people.  Those  brave  men  of  old  were  not  afraid 
of  preaching  politics;  and  how  can  one,  the  fol- 
lower of  him  who  taught  us  to  pray,  '  Thy  king- 
dom come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven,'  dare  to  make  this  but  mere  lip-service  ? 
Surely  they  will  be  the  first  to  give  the  influence 
of  their  Christian  manhood  to  bring  that  kingdom 
here  and  now  in  this  city  of  Chicago.  The  clergy- 
man who  fails  to  teach  his  people  that  God  as 
truly  leads  this  nation  now  as  in  the  days  of  old 
is  recreant  to  his  trust,  is  unworthy  of  his  calling, 
as  it  seems  to  me. 

"I  would  have  our  church  vestries,  which  are 
closed  and  vacant  a  great  part  of  the  week,  thrown 
open  at  least  one  evening  in  a  week  for  discussions, 
lectures,  debates,  or  small  classes  grouped  together 
for  the  study  of  subjects  that  will  promote  good 
citizenship. 

"  I  suggest  that  all  classes  of  people,  whether 
church-goers  or  not,  who  are  willing  to  join  in  this 
work,  be  divided  into  four  sections. 

"  First  and  largest  of  all  would  be  the  section 
containing  those  who  know  little  of  American  his- 
tory, civil  government,  and  political  economy. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  235 

These  would  form  themselves  into  bands  for  study- 
ing a  well  -  selected  course  of  reading,  beginning 
with  elementary  work,  and  proceeding  from  such 
books  as  Mr.  Dole's  '  The  Citizen  and  the  Neigh- 
bor,' to  profound  works  like  Mulford's  '  The  Na- 
tion,' or  perhaps  Hegel's  '  Philosophy  of  History.' 

"  I  see  no  reason  why  with  a  proper  system  and 
the  natural  interest  which  I  think  the  subject  will 
awaken  there  should  not  eventually  result  as  wide- 
spread and  beneficent  a  work  as  that  which  the 
Chatauqua  classes  have  done. 

"  There  should  be  a  secretary  for  each  little  cen- 
tre of  study  to  whom  reports  of  work  should  be 
made,  and  certificates  or  diplomas  should  be  be- 
stowed by  the  directors  on  those  who  have  success- 
fully passed  through  different  courses. 

"  I  also  suggest  public  debates  and  dissertations 
by  members  of  both  sexes.  It  is  not  so  difficult  a 
matter  as  you  may  think  to  interest  young  people 
in  such  work.  I  know  of  a  teacher  in  Somerville, 
Massachusetts,  who  for  years  has  been  the  means 
of  carrying  on  a  historical  club  of  about  seventy- 
five  boys  and  girls  under  fifteen  years  of  age. 
These  children  meet  regularly,  conducting  their 
meetings  themselves  according  to  Cushing's  '  Man- 
ual of  Parliamentary  Rules,'  and  girls  as  well  as 
boys  take  part  in  a  modest,  fearless  way.  They 
get  not  only  much  historical  information  on  the 
subjects  they  discuss,  but  also  a  very  valuable  dis- 
cipline which  renders  them  self-possessed  in  man- 
ner, and  discriminating  in  their  thought,  and  is 


236         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

the  best  of  training  for  many  duties  of  good  citi- 
zenship. 

"  All  these  results  take  time  and  patience  and 
tact  in  the  planners  of  the  classes,  lest  rivalry  and 
jealousy  and  short-sightedness  defeat  the  end  in 
view.  But  when  a 

SCHEME   IS   ONCE   THOUGHT  OUT 

in  its  main  features  it  is  comparatively  easy  to 
follow,  especially  when  it  is  as  flexible  as  the  one 
I  present  to  you,  and  when  the  leaders  are  disin- 
terested men  and  women. 

"  The  second  of  the  four  classes  which  I  have 
suggested  would  contain  a  much  smaller  number  of 
persons,  and  would  be  those  who  have  the  time  and 
ability  to  teach.  This  would  bring  forth  much 
latent  talent  for  home  missionary  work  which  does 
not  find  vent  in  our  mission  Sunday-schools. 

"  The  work  should  be  especially  prosecuted 
among  the  foreign  population. 

"  Let  a  course  of  say  twenty-five  weekly  lectures 
be  arranged  to  be  illustrated  by  the  stereopticon, 
and  treating  in  a  simple  way  of  the  growth  of  our 
nation  from  its  beginning  until  the  present  time. 
I  would  not  have  very  much  attention  paid  to  the 
campaigns  of  the  wars.  It  matters  little  to  the 
Bohemian  who  cannot  read  English  or  to  the  Irish- 
man who  cannot  write  his  name  whether  Braddock 
or  King  Philip  fought  in  the  war  of  1812  or  not. 

"  But  it  does  matter  that  he  should  understand 
something  of  the  early  life  of  the  colonists,  some- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         237 

tiling  of  the  dangers  from  which  they  fled,  the 
causes  of  the  Revolution,  the  growth  of  slavery, 
the  meaning  of  our  republican  institutions,  our 
great  industrial  development,  and  the  significance 
of  such  names  as  Franklin,  Washington,  Lincoln, 
Grant. 

"  A  cornet  leading  a  chorus  of  school-children, 
who  should  sing  national  airs,  would  add  zest  to 
such  a  lecture,  the  price  of  which  should  be  merely 
nominal.  I  think  you  will  generally  find  it  better 
to  have  a  price. 

"  In  such  matters  people  usually  undervalue  and 
are  a  little  suspicious  of  what  is  given  them  freely. 
If  a  ticket  costs  ten  cents,  or  if  it  is  given  as  a 
reward  of  merit  to  the  children  at  school,  it  will  be 
vastly  more  appreciated. 

"  These  lectures  would  be  given  in  English 
wherever  possible,  but  in  the  foreign  districts  of 
the  city  the  same  set  could  be  given  in  transla- 
tions, the  speaker  being  an  intelligent  man  of  the 
nationality  of  the  audience. 

"  I  think  you  will  find  it  better  among  foreigners 
to  give  these  lectures  in  a  hall  rather  than  in  a 
church,  so  as  not  to  awaken  religious  prejudices. 
With  different  speakers  the  same  lectures  and 
pictures  can  be  used  in  different  parts  of  the  city 
every  evening  in  the  week,  thus  having  six  or  seven 

SIMULTANEOUS   COURSES 

of  the  same  lectures. 

"  After  the  completion  of  the  first  course  much 


238          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

experience  will  have  been  gained  in  the  details 
of  management,  and  other  courses  can  be  formed 
illustrating  the  material  resources,  physical  geog- 
raphy of  our  country,  and  the  biography  and  lit- 
erature of  our  great  men. 

"  With  a  little  music,  plenty  of  pictures,  and  a 
speaker  with  a  hearty,  ringing  voice,  I  think  there 
can  be  no  question  of  winning  attention  among 
these  foreigners.  After  that,  classes  and  clubs  for 
reading  and  discussion  would  easily  follow. 

'"  I  have  spoken  of  two  sections,  the  students  and 
the  teachers ;  the  third  might  comprise  those  who 
could  give  neither  work  nor  study,  but  who  would 
give  money.  This  money  might  go  to  any  one  of 
a  dozen  fields  of  work  which  the  organization 
would  help  support. 

"  Each  donor  could  specify  the  purpose  for 
which  he  gives  his  money,  whether  it  be  temper- 
ance-reform work,  free  kindergartens,  industrial 
schools,  payment  for  detection  and  prosecution  of 
law-breakers,  or  general  running  expenses.  You 
can  readily  see  that  although  there  may  be  much 
voluntary,  unpaid  service,  there  will  be  great 
need  of  more  money  than  I  have  promised  to  con- 
tribute. 

"  The  fourth  class  would  be  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant, comprising  chiefly  the  solid  business  men 
and  practical,  public  -  spirited  women,  such  as  I 
have  found  here  in  your  remarkably  live  Woman's 
Club  and  other  organizations.  These  men  and 
women  would  attend  to  such  practical  work  as  is 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         239 

done  by  our  Law  and  Order  Leagues  in  the  dif- 
ferent states,  supplementing  the  often  inefficient 
police  service,  and  persistently  insisting  that  the 
existing  laws  shall  be  enforced. 

"  This  branch  of  the  work  alone  would  require 
more  than  one  paid  agent.  Another  line  of  work 
for  this  fourth  class  of  good  citizens  would  be  an 
organized  and  ever-increasing  vigilance  in  regard 
to  the  work  of  the  city's  servants,  and  the  creation 
of  a  strong  public  sentiment  which  shall  demand  a 
purer,  cleaner  press  and  a  suppression  of  the  vile 
literature  which  is  poisoning  the  imagination  of 
thousands  of  our  youth. 

"  This  class  of  workers  would  be  the  active  agents 
of  all  reforms,  and  unwavering  in  their  efforts  to 
make  the  primary  meetings  places  where  the  moral 
force  and  the  intelligence  of  the  city  shall  be  most 
powerfully  felt. 

"  Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean  in  speaking  of 
the  kinds  of  work  which  this  fourth  class  of  work- 
ers can  do  to  promote  good  citizenship.  The  suc- 
cessful courses  of  lectures  on  history  to  young 
people  under  the  auspices  of  the 

COMMERCIAL   CLUB 

which  have  been  carried  on  here  is  just  the  kind 
of  work  which  needs  to  be  done.  The  prizes  for 
essays  on  historical  subjects  offered  to  the  school- 
children by  the  '  Daily  News '  is  another  good 
thing.  The  courses  of  lectures  by  workmen  and 
capitalists  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ethical  Cul- 


240         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

ture  Society  is  just  the  kind  of  work  which  I 
should  like  to  see  multiplied  a  hundredfold. 

"  All  existing  organizations  for  promoting  the 
welfare  of  the  community  can  unite  in  this  large 
organization  without  abandoning  their  own  methods 
and  field  of  work. 

"  Perhaps  this  scheme  as  I  have  outlined  it  may 
seem  to  you  somewhat  Utopian  ;  but  you  will  re- 
member that  what  I  have  said  is  simply  suggestion. 
The  methods  I  leave  entirely  to  your  own  excellent 
judgment.  But  whatever  these  may  be,  they  will 
be  watched  with  keen  interest  by  other  cities  to 
whom  I  shall  make  the  same  proposition  that  I 
have  made  to  you,  provided  that  the  results  of  your 
efforts  shall  justify  my  action  in  this  matter. 

"  The  little  plan  which  I  propose  is 

ABSOLUTELY  FLEXIBLE. 

One  person  or  one  circle  may  work  in  one  way  and 
one  in  another,  each  according  to  his  own  tastes 
and  opportunities.  While  any  one  of  leisure  may 
belong  to  all  four  sections,  no  one  need  feel  excluded 
from  joining  in  the  general  good  work  in  some  way, 
if  he  have  but  a  dollar  a  year  to  contribute,  or  but 
an  hour  a  week  for  study  or  work. 

"  May  I  not  hope  that  the  life  and  youth  and 
moral  power  of  Chicago  will  join  hand  in  hand  in 
making  this  vast  city  great,  not  only  in  dimensions 
and  numbers  and  wealth,  but  great  in  that  kind  of 
greatness  which  alone  shall  exalt  a  nation  and  give 
it  memory.  For 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  241 

'  The  envious  Powers  of  ill  nor  wink  nor  sleep :  — 

Be  therefore  timely  wise, 

Nor  laugh  when  this  one  steals  and  that  one  lies, 
As  if  your  luck  could  cheat  those  sleepless  spies, 
Till  the  deaf  Fury  comes  your  house  to  sweep.'  " 

As  Miss  Brewster  stood  a  moment  with  silently 
bowed  head  and  then  sank  into  her  chair  there  was 
a  hush.  Every  one  had  been  thrilled  by  the  clear, 
quiet,  intense  tones  of  her  voice,  and  there  was  an 
instinctive  refrain  from  applause  which  marked  the 
deep  feeling  which  her  words  had  created. 

Dr.  T rose  to  speak,  but  at  this  juncture 

the  writer,  whose  office  had  been  discovered,  was 
politely  requested  by  an  usher  to  withdraw.  It  was 
subsequently  learned,  however,  that  a  committee 
consisting  of  seven  ladies  and  eighteen  gentlemen 
was  elected  from  those  present,  and  they  are  to  meet 
next  week  for  selection  of  a  superintendent,  and  to 
establish  their  organization. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AFTER  leaving  Chicago  in  June,  we  passed  a 
wonderful  fortnight  among  the  glories  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone Park.  Here  Mildred  seemed  to  throw  off 
all  care,  and  to  breathe  freely  for  the  first  time  in 
six  months. 

After  leaving  the  Park,  some  of  our  party  were 
called  back  to  the  East,  but  aunt,  cousin  Will,  and 
Alice  still  accompanied  us. 

On  touching  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
again  our  car  was  attached  to  a  train  filled  for  the 
most  part  with  immigrants. 

At  the  stations  where  stops  were  made  we  al- 
ways alighted  to  take  a  little  exercise  in  walking 
up  and  down  the  platform,  and  to  chat  with  the 
Indians  and  half-breeds,  who  greatly  interested 
Mildred. 

I  must  admit  that  for  my  part  I  found  the 
wrinkled  old  crones  and  dirty  braves  rather  dis- 
gusting, though  occasionally  a  few  who  still  re- 
tained their  primitive  adornments  of  vermilion 
paint  and  eagle's  feathers  furnished  a  bit  of  pic- 
turesqueness  that  was  interesting. 

At  one  stopping-place,  there  being  no  Indians 
visible,  we  turned  our  attention  to  the  crowd  of  Eu- 
ropean peasants  who  poured  out  of  the  immigrant 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         243 

cars,  and  strolling  about  among  them  we  amused 
ourselves  by  studying  the  stolid,  square  faces,  and 
giving  candy  to  the  sturdy,  little  flaxen-haired  chil- 
dren who  gazed  in  round-eyed  wonder  at  us. 

Presently  I  saw  that  Mildred,  who  had  slipped 
away  from  me,  was  holding  a  hurried  and  earnest 
conversation  with  a  sad-eyed  little  woman  who 
with  quivering  lips  was  telling  the  story  of  how 
her  Mann  had  died  on  the  voyage  and  been  bur- 
ied at  sea,  and  how  she  was  left  to  make  the  rest 
of  the  long  journey  alone  with  her  three  helpless 
little  ones. 

"  It  goes  to  my  heart,"  said  Mildred  as  we  re- 
turned to  our  car,  "  to  think  of  that  woman  and 
those  poor,  fatherless  little  things  in  this  strange 
land.  Not  one  of  the  people  with  her  is  her  friend 
and  neighbor,  and  I  don't  know  what  is  to  become 
of  her." 

"  How  perfectly  dreadful !  "  exclaimed  Alice 
calmly  as  she  scanned  her  cards. 

"  Gad,  that 's  tough !  "  ejaculated  Will,  and  then 
we  proceeded  with  our  whist,  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  this  little  episode. 

I  watched  Mildred.  I  knew  that  this  would  not 
be  the  end  of  it  with  her,  though  the  others  soon 
forgot  about  it.  She  played  carelessly  and  was 
beaten.  She  was  thinking  not  of  the  game,  but  of 
the  tired,  broken-hearted  wife  in  the  next  car  who 
had  so  courageously  said  good-by  to  the  Fatherland 
a  month  before  with  her  brave  Fritz,  and  must  now 
end  the  long,  wearisome  journey  alone,  poor  and 
friendless. 


244          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Presently  she  rose  and  left  the  car. 

"Let  me  go  with  you,"  called  Will,  and  followed 
her,  while  I  lay  down  on  the  sofa  for  a  nap  and 
knew  nothing  more  until  an  hour  later.  Then  I 
waked  to  find  Mildred  kneeling  by  my  side  and 
smilingly  patting  my  cheeks. 

"What  do  you  say  to  having  an  adventure, 
Ruby  ?  "  she  asked.  "  I  have  a  capital  scheme  ; 
just  listen  to  it.  Will  and  I  have  been  to  see  that 
poor  little  woman,  and  it  is  pathetic  to  see  how  she 
clings  to  us  and  looks  to  us  for  assistance.  She 
will  be  utterly  helpless  when  she  gets  to  the  end 
of  her  journey.  Her  passage  is  prepaid  through, 
but  that  is  all.  She  has  only  three  dollars  left, 
and  the  agent  who  has  all  these  people  in  charge 
is  a  hard-faced  man  who  cannot  be  trusted  to  con- 
cern himself  in  the  least  about  her. 

"  She  opened  her  whole  heart  to  me  while  Will 
amused  the  children,  and  I  have  learned  all  her 
simple  little  story.  I  had  n't  the  heart  to  leave 
her  until  I  had  promised  to  see  her  through  to  her 
journey's  end." 

"  But  you  forget,  Mildred,"  I  cried  astonished, 
and  sitting  up  quickly  ;  "  these  people  are  all  going 
to  switch  off  at  the  Junction  and  go  twenty-five 
miles  on  another  road.  The  conductor  told  us  so, 
you  know,  and  we  can't  follow  them,  for  it  would 
make  us  a  day  late  in  reaching  Tacoma,  and  auntie 
really  must  have  her  ulcerated  tooth  attended  to." 
She  had  in  fact  hardly  held  her  head  up  that  day 
and  was  suffering  terribly. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         245 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mildred ;  "  I  have  thought  of 
all  that,  and  it  is  all  arranged.  Alice  and  Will 
are  to  go  on  with  her  in  this  car  and  take  the  best 
of  care  of  her,  and  if  you  will  join  Helene  [the 
maid]  and  me,  we  will  go  with  the  immigrants  and 
see  little  Frau  Kopp  well  started  in  the  new  home 
before  we  leave  her.  I  consider  it  quite  a  fortunate 
circumstance  on  the  whole.  I  have  wanted  an  ex- 
cuse to  mingle  with  the  people  more  and  learn 
something  further  of  frontier  life  than  can  be  seen 
from  the  windows  of  a  parlor-car." 

Will  remonstrated  vigorously,  however.  "  See 
here,  Mildred,"  he  said  seriously,  "  it  will  never  do 
in  the  world  for  you  to  start  off  this  way  at  night 
into  an  unknown  region,  and  ride  in  these  wretched 
cars.  Very  likely  you  will  have  to  sleep  on  a  straw 
bed  in  some  vile  little  tavern  no  one  knows  where. 
You  can  give  this  woman  some  money,  and  " — 

"I  haven't  time  to  argue,"  interposed  Mildred, 
packing  her  bag.  "  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to 
go.  Don't  think  me  stubborn,  but  money  can't  do 
for  that  disconsolate,  frightened  little  woman  what 
I  can  do.  She  has  not  a  single  friend  ;  her  baby 
is  ill ;  some  Yankee  sharper  would  swindle  her  out 
of  her  money ;  and,  besides,  I  want  to  go.  I  want 
to  know  from  experience  a  little  about  the  life  of 
these  people." 

"  Then  if  I  can't  dissuade  you  I  must  go  with 
you.  Mother  can  "  — 

"No,  she  can't;  and  I  can't  let  you  leave  her, 
cousin  Will,"  replied  Mildred  with  quiet  detenni- 


246         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

nation.  "  Nothing  can  possibly  happen  to  us.  "We 
are  in  a  civilized  land,  and  robbers  are  not  wont  to 
attack  an  immigrant  train.  We  shall  not  be  hurt 
by  '  roughing  it '  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  if  any- 
thing happens  to  delay  us  longer  we  will  telegraph 
you." 

"  Let  me  go  instead  of  you,"  insisted  Will,  still 
frowning  upon  the  project ;  "  there  is  no  need  of 
you  three  interrupting  your  journey  when  I  can 
manage  the  affair  perfectly  well." 

"  But  you  don't  speak  German  and  I  do,"  replied 
Mildred,  decisively. 

There  was  nothing  more  to  be  said,  and  we  bade 
them  good-by,  with  no  misgiving  on  our  part,  and 
stepped  into  the  uncomfortable,  stuffy  immigrant 
cars.  Mildred  seated  herself  beside  little  Frau 
Kopp  and  held  in  her  lap  chubby  two-year-old 
Hans,  dressed  like  a  little  old  man  in  the  clumsy, 
German  peasant  fashion.  Helene  and  I  meanwhile 
took  turns  in  occupying  the  only  vacant  seat  in  the 
car.  The  motley  crowd  of  Swedes,  Norwegians, 
Danes,  Germans,  and  Bohemians,  who  for  five  or 
six  days  and  nights  had  been  traveling  together  in 
heat  and  discomfort,  sat  nodding  sleepily  and  ap- 
parently unexcited  at  the  near  approach  of  their 
long  journey's  end. 

All  the  afternoon  it  had  looked  lowering  in  the 
west,  and  as  the  dim  kerosene  lamps  were  lighted 
one  by  one,  we  heard  the  dash  of  rain  upon  the  roof 
of  the  car,  and  by  the  flashes  of  lightning  could 
discern  with  our  faces  pressed  close  to  the  panes 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  247 

that  we  were  just  entering  upon  the  track  of  a 
storm.  Trees  were  uprooted  and  lay  in  confusion 
beside  the  track.  But  we  could  see  little,  and  I 
gave  scarcely  a  thought  to  it  as  I  sat  on  the  hard, 
uncushioned  seat,  with  my  lap  full  of  bags  and 
wraps,  and  watched  Mildred  a  few  seats  in  front 
of  me  as  she  talked  cheerily  to  the  tired  little 
children.  Our  destination  was  to  be  the  little 
mining  town  of  Blivens,  and  we  were  to  reach  it 
at  half -past  eight. 

On  we  went  whizzing  through  the  darkness,  the 
train  rocking  from  side  to  side,  and  the  red-ker- 
chiefed, brown  faces  of  the  women  lighting  up  pic- 
turesquely the  dark  mysterious  shadows.  We  were 
about  to  reach  our  destination,  and  I  had  just  risen 
to  rest  my  stiffened  limbs,  when  suddenly  I  was 
thrown  headlong  down  the  aisle,  and  a  hideous 
grating,  jarring  noise  drowned  every  other  sound. 
Then  a  sense  of  falling,  rolling,  pitching,  of  absolute 
darkness,  and  of  frightful  pain. 

I  lay  I  know  not  how  long.  One  foot  and  hand 
were  pinioned  under  something  hard  and  immova- 
ble, the  other  foot  doubled  under  me,  and  my  head 
twisted  awry  and  also  immovable.  I  was  lying 
between  two  bodies,  one  above  and  one  under  me. 
Something  warm  was  dripping  down  over  my  face, 
and  shrieks  and  dying  groans  rent  the  air. 

I  was  too  stunned  at  first  to  think  what  it  meant. 
I  was  conscious  only  of  pain,  horrible  pain,  such  as 
I  had  never  dreamed  of  before.  I  could  not  cry 
out,  I  could  not  move.  Oh,  would  help  never  come  ? 


248         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE, 

What  was  this  horrible  thing  that  had  happened  ? 
A  moment  ago  —  no,  was  it  not  an  hour  ago  ?  — we 
were  alive  and  well ;  and  now  ?  Oh,  why  had  God 
let  this  horrible  thing  happen?  And  Mildred  — 
where  was  she?  Perhaps  she  was  dead;  and  I 
should  be  dead  too  very  soon,  and  nothing  would 
matter  much. 

I  remember  thinking  then,  strangely  enough,  "  I 
am  glad  she  has  made  her  will." 

Suddenly  a  dull  glow,  a  gleam  of  light,  then  a 
hoarse  yell  of  despair  from  a  score  of  voices,  "  Da 
ist  Feuer  !  "  "  The  train  is  on  fire  !  " 

My  heart  stopped  beating.  Were  the  horrors  of 
a  holocaust  to  be  added  to  this  agony  ? 

Oh,  the  long,  fearful  minutes  !  A  horrid  glare 
lit  up  the  blackness  of  the  night,  and  nearer,  nearer 
crept  the  crackling  flames  ? 

O  Christ !  will  no  one  come  to  rescue  us,  will 
not  the  clouds  in  mercy  pour  down  their  treasures 
to  stop  this  demon  flame  ! 

But  no  !  The  rain  had  ceased,  and  on,  on,  stead- 
ily on  came  the  frightful  scorching  flames. 

It  was  now  as  light  as  day.  In  the  red  glare  I 
could  see  black  figures  moving  swiftly,  men  run- 
ning wildly  about  and  desperately  pulling  and  tear- 
ing at  the  splintered  sides  of  the  car. 

But  oh,  how  feeble  all  their  efforts  !  How  utterly 
futile  seemed  all  human  strength  to  cope  with  these 
frightful  forces  that  held  us  relentlessly  in  their 
grasp ! 

"  Well,  it  will  soon  be  over,  soon  be  over,"  I 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          249 

groaned  to  myself.  "  The  torture  shall  not  be  long 
if  with  my  free  hand  I  can  get  a  quicker  death," 
I  resolved  in  the  desperation  of  my  agony. 

It  seemed  hours  to  us  wretches  lying  there  'twixt 
hell  and  heaven,  but  I  suppose  it  was  only  minutes. 
Then  there  was  a  cracking,  a  breaking.  An  iron 
crowbar  in  the  hands  of  a  man  had  broken  through 
the  debris  and  was  lifting  the  frightful  weight 
from  my  arm. 

I  could  see  his  face  distinctly,  as  with  the  giant 
strength  of  a  madman,  but  with  the  clear  eye  of 
one  who  was  a  born  general,  he  marshaled  his 
panic-stricken  followers  and  bade  them  aid  him. 

"  Here,  Jim,"  he  shouted  hoarsely,  his  voice  ris- 
ing above  the  roar  of  the  flames,  "  hold  on  there  ! 
Now  you  and  Tom  and  the  rest,  pull !  —  pull  as 
you  never  pulled  before  !  " 

But  it  was  all  in  vain ;  as  well  try  to  lift  a  moun- 
tain. 

"Take  this  child,"  groaned  a  muffled  voice  at 
my  side,  and  as  the  strong  arms  of  the  stranger 
lifted  little  Hans  limp  and  lifeless,  and  hastily  laid 
him  in  the  soft  dark  mud  behind  him,  I  saw  for 
the  first  time  Mildred's  white  face  beside  me. 

"  There  ain't  no  use,  boss,"  cried  the  men  in  a 
frenzy,  and  stopping  to  wring  their  hands.  "  We 
can't  do  nothing ;  they  've  got  to  burn  alive  !  " 

"  Then  for  God's  sake  give  me  your  pistol  or 
your  knife !  "  I  cried  fiercely. 

"Yes,  Mildred,"  I  protested,  "it's  right,  it's 
right.  If  we  must  die,  let  it  be  quickly,  and  not  by 
inches." 


250         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

But  Mildred  did  not  hear.  She  was  looking  at 
the  stranger  with  wild,  staring  eyes,  and  for  an  in- 
stant, as  if  paralyzed,  he  gazed  at  her.  Then  a  look 
of  such  agony  as  I  never  saw  on  a  human  face  con- 
vulsed his  features,  and  he  cried,  "  Boys,  once  more  ! 
I  must  save  this  woman  /"  and  while  they  stood 
wringing  helpless  hands,  he,  with  knotted  veins 
and  starting  eyes,  made  one  herculean  effort,  and 
Mildred  was  in  his  arms  and  free. 

I  saw  them  stagger  and  fall  together,  while  the 
bright  blood  in  a  crimson  torrent  poured  from  his 
lips  and  dyed  her  white,  clinging  hands. 

Then  I  knew  nothing  more.  I  have  a  vague 
recollection  of  a  roar  as  of  Niagara  filling  my  ears, 
a  sense  of  being  torn  limb  from  limb,  a  shuddering 
thought  that  this  indeed  was  death  and  the  end  had 
come  —  and  then  blackness. 

I  knew  not  how  many  hours  or  days  had  passed. 
When  I  opened  my  eyes  I  was  lying  on  a  hard 
straw  bed  on  the  floor  of  an  unplastered  attic  room. 
I  could  see  nothing  from  where  I  lay  but  the  cor- 
ner of  a  window  through  whose  panes  the  sun 
streamed  in,  scarce  hindered  by  the  torn  blue  paper 
curtain.  It  shone  upon  the  gorgeous  patchwork 
counterpane  upon  my  bed.  It  dazzled  my  eyes, 
which  felt  strangely  weak. 

I  tried  to  move,  but  could  not  stir  ;  to  speak,  but 
could  utter  no  sound. 

Presently,  as  I  lay  with  closed  eyes,  I  felt  that 
some  one  had  stooped  from  behind  and  looked  at 
me.  Then  I  heard  a  husky  whisper,  — 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  251 

"  She  's  sleepin'  real  nateral,  don't  ye  worry  a 
mite.  She  's  agoin'  ter  git  on,  you  can  jest  bet  on 
that."  This  was  followed  by  a  heavy  tread  which 
jarred  my  head  with  every  movement  like  that  of  a 
giant  trying  to  walk  on  tiptoe.  There  was  a  creak- 
ing of  a  door,  then  a  slow,  soft  thump,  thump, 
thump  down  the  uncarpeted  stairs,  and  all  was 
still. 

I  lay  quiet,  wondering  what  it  all  meant.  Where 
was  I,  and  what  could  be  the  matter  ?  My  head 
was  confused.  Was  Mildred  —  hush,  there  was  a 
voice  near  by  talking  low  ;  it  seemed  behind  me. 

"  But  it  was  not  so ;  how  could  you  have  thought 
it  so?" 

The  voice  sounded  like  Mildred's.  It  was  weak 
and  trembling. 

"  I  went  East  to  find  you  after  it  was  all  over 
between  Agnes  and  me,  but  they  said  you  were  en- 
gaged, you  had  gone  abroad.  I  could  do  nothing. 
I  came  back ;  I  had  my  work,  and  I  tried  to  live." 

The  other  voice  I  did  not  know ;  it  was  husky 
and  broken. 

There  was  silence  again,  and  I  heard  a  bustling 
and  tramping  about  below,  and  outside  the  window 
locusts  buzzing  shrilly. 

Voices  again.  I  could  not  but  hear.  It  was 
Mildred's  voice.  "But  did  you  love  me  then  in 
the  beginning  ?  " 

There  was  no  answer  at  first ;  then  it  came,  a 
little  stronger  and  steadier  than  before.  "  I  should 
have  loved  you  then  if  I  had  dared,  but  I  was 


252          MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

pledged  to  Agnes ;  she  had  promised  to  be  my  wife. 
There  came  a  day  at  Concord  when  I  saw  my  dan- 
ger. I  knew  that  I  must  not  dare  to  see  you  again. 
I  prayed  that  I  might  be  kept  from  being  false  to 
the  woman  whom  I  had  asked  to  love  me,  so  I  went 
away  and  tried  to  forget.  After  all,  I  had  known 
you  for  only  a  few  days,  and  I  had  known  her  from 
childhood.  She  was  true  as  steel.  She  trusted 
me  ;  and  when  with  her  again  I  was  glad  to  find  at 
last  that  life  could  still  be  rich  and  sweet,  and  I  be 
spared  from  baseness." 

"  Then  why,  why  "  —  Mildred  began  ;  but  she 
hesitated,  and  her  voice  died  away. 

"  It  came  about  in  this  way,"  said  the  other  voice 
after  a  pause.  "  I  had  studied  for  the  ministry,  you 
know.  Agnes  had  rejoiced  to  think  that  she  was 
to  share  my  work.  I  had  decided  from  the  first 
to  give  myself  to  the  home  mission  work  either  in 
the  far  West  or  among  the  colored  people  at  the 
South.  She  was  all  enthusiasm  and  zeal.  She 
was  a  noble  woman ;  but  oh  —  well,  it  is  a  long 
story,  a  long  story."  Another  pause  ;  then,  "  Do 
you  know  how  unjust  and  bitter  a  woman  can  be 
when  she  thinks  that  she  alone  is  intrusted  with 
the  decrees  of  the  Almighty  ? 

"  As  her  lover,  I  must  be  frank  with  her,  I  must 
conceal  nothing.  I  told  her  all,  little  by  little,  of 
what  I  had  come  to  believe  and  see.  It  only  made 
her  tremble  with  horror.  She  saw  that  I  was  not 
ready  to  preach  the  gospel  which  she  believed.  She 
felt  that  I  was  going  no-whither.  '  You  have  denied 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          253 

God's  Word  and  made  your  reason  your  God,'  she 
said.  '  I  can  never  dare  trust  my  future  with  you 
unless  you  promise  me  once  and  forever  to  abandon 
reading  these  dreadful  books  which  are  leading 
you  farther  and  farther  from  the  truth.' 

"  I  tried  argument,  but  it  was  of  no  avail.  '  I 
am  no  logician  ;  I  cannot  argue  and  reason  with  a 
college-bred  man  like  you.  You  could  readily  refute 
my  simple  talk  to  your  own  satisfaction,'  she  said  ; 
'  but  all  the  philosophy  in  the  world  cannot  change 
my  faith.  My  husband's  God  must  be  the  one 
whom  I  serve.' 

"I  did  not  know  how  I  had  really  loved  her 
until  I  found  I  was  breaking  her  heart.  It  was 
pitiful.  I  tried  to  show  her  how  I  loved  the  same 
God  whom  she  served,  but  she  said,  while  the  tears 
choked  her  voice : 

" '  No,  Ralph,  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  ;  we 
look  at  the  world  in  a  radically  different  way. 
There  can  be  no  compromises  so  long  as  this  ex- 
ists.' So  we  parted." 

"  And  then  you  —  you  came  here  ?  "  queried 
Mildred  faintly. 

"  Yes.  My  life  at  first  seemed  wrecked ;  but  I 
had  my  work,  and  though  I  could  not  ask  any 
Missionary  Board  to  send  me  out,  I  determined  to 
come  alone  and  serve  God,  if  not  in  the  pulpit, 
then  perhaps  as  well  some  other  way. 

"  I  came  with  the  first  miners.  I  lived  with  them 
and  worked  for  them.  I  helped  them  build  their 
first  log  huts.  I  opened  the  first  store  here,  but  as 


254         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

I  sold  no  liquor  it  was  hard  to  contend  with  the 
other  shops  which  soon  were  rivals  of  mine. 

"  But  I  made  enough  to  live  on.  That  was  all 
I  cared  for.  I  had  come  here  to  save  men,  not  to 
save  money. 

"  First  I  started  a  reading-room,  here  in  my 
room.  It  was  open  to  them  all,  and  after  a  while 
we  had  an  evening  class.  Then  I  began  a  Sunday 
school,  and  they  all  came  at  first  just  to  oblige  me 
because  I  asked  them,  but  afterwards  because  they 
liked  it.  Then  at  last  I  began  a  regular  Sunday 
service. 

"I  love  these  rough  fellows,  and  they  have 
learned  to  love  me.  I  do  what  I  can  for  them.  I 
would  not  change  my  work  for  the  richest  parish  in 
the  country.  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  I  am  helping  to  shape  the  future  of  this  whole 
region. 

"  These  men  have  loved  me  in  a  rough,  hearty 
way,  and  I  thank  God  for  it,  for  sometimes  the 
loneliness  has  been  terrible. 

"  Agnes  married  a  missionary  and  went  to  India, 
and  after  a  while  I  saw  that  it  was  best  so,  though 
it  was  bitter  to  me  at  first. 

"  I  felt  that  you,  the  only  other  woman  for  whom 
I  ever  had  cared,  had  forgotten  me.  I  did  not 
dare  to  think  that  you  had  remembered  me,  but  I 
could  not  rest  until  I  knew.  I  made  the  long  jour- 
ney East.  I  felt  that  I  could  not  be  denied  until  I 
had  heard  the  final  word  from  your  lips.  I  reached 
Boston  the  very  day  that  you  sailed  from  New 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          255 

York  ;  and  I  heard  that  you  were  to  marry  a  rich 
man  on  your  return. 

"  Well,  I  tried  to  bear  it  as  best  I  could.  I 
came  back  to  my  work.  After  the  little  glimpse  of 
civilization  and  comfort  that  I  had  had,  this  dreary 
little  place  seemed  drearier  still ;  but  I  had  brought 
books  with  me,  and  they  helped  me. 

"  One  day,  as  I  sat  here  feeling  lonely,  wretched, 
forlorn,  I  picked  up  my  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and  sud- 
denly a  light  seemed  to  break  in  upon  me,  and  I 
said,  '  O  fool,  you  with  strength  and  vigor  and  op- 
portunities, you  who  have  the  inherited  wisdom  of 
the  world  at  your  command,  you  the  heir  of  all  the 
ages,  the  son  of  a  King !  —  shall  you  mourn  and 
complain  because  Heaven  denies  you  one  boon? 
When  was  it  ever  decreed  that  you  should  be  so 
favored  above  all  other  mortals  as  to  be  completely 
happy  in  this  world  of  pain  ?  Should  the  servant 
be  above  his  Master  ? ' 

"  So  then  I  tried  to  learn  to  be  content.  I  found 
something  better  than  happiness,  —  it  has  been 
blessedness. 

"  I  study  when  I  can.  But  I  am  studying  hu- 
manity chiefly.  I  am  learning  how  to  fill  the  needs 
of  these  brothers  of  mine.  I  am  trying  to  show 
them  that  there  is  something  better  than  the  gold 
which  seems  to  them  the  only  thing  worth  working 
for.  Yes,  I  love  my  work." 

There  was  a  note  of  exultation  in  the  voice,  weak 
though  it  was,  which  thrilled  me.  I  think  I  must 
have  dozed,  for  the  voices  again  sounded  faint  and 


256         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

far  away.  Presently  as  I  returned  to  consciousness 
I  heard  the  voice  saying  in  little  broken  gasps  of 
pain,  "  But  oh,  Mildred  darling,  do  you  know 
what  this  means  ?  Do  you  know  what  it  means 
when  you  promise  to  be  willing  to  take  me  for  bet- 
ter or  for  worse  ?  You  love  books  and  pictures 
and  music  and  beauty.  Can  I  consent  to  see  you 
deprived  of  them  all,  to  share  my  lot  ? 

"  You  do  not  know  me  yet.  You  are  grateful  to 
me  for  saving  you  ;  but  it  was  simple  humanity  — 
humanity,  nothing  more.  I  was  a  fool  to  speak  out 
as  I  did  just  now ;  it  was  only  my  weakness  and 
selfishness.  No,  I  cannot  let  you  bind  yourself  yet ; 
wait  till  you  are  well,  till  your  friends  come. 

"You  say  they  have  wealth.  What  will  they 
think  of  your  giving  them  all  up  to  settle  in  this 
dismal  place  and  be  the  wife  of  a  man  who  has  not 
five  hundred  dollars  in  the  world,  and  can  offer 
you  nothing  but  a  life  of  toil  ? 

"  No,  you  shall  be  free.  Forget  that  I  dared  to 
speak,  that  I  dared  for  a  moment  to  think  — 
What  ?  Why  —  why,  Mildred,  you  are  laughing !  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Mildred  in  a  different  tone,  "I  —  that 
is,  I  was  only  thinking  of  love  in  a  cottage.  I  am 
not  afraid  of  being  poor ;  I  can  work  too." 

"  Ah,  yes ;  but  being  poor  in  Boston,  where  you 
have  the  largest  public  library  in  the  world,  and 
the  free  Lowell  lectures,  and  a  glorious  symphony 
concert  now  and  then  for  only  fifty  cents,  is  one 
thing ;  and  to  be  poor  here,  to  stand  at  the  washtub, 
and  to  scrub  and  clean  and  bake  and  mend,  is  quite 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  257 

another.  There  would  be  little  call  here  for  the 
work  which  you  love  and  can  do  so  well.  These 
rough,  hard-working  men  have  little  time  or  incli- 
nation to  hear  of  Goethe  or  Dante. 

"  It  would  be  cruel  for  me  to  let  these  soft,  white 
hands  grow  hard  and  rough,  to  let  your  life  which 
elsewhere  could  be  so  rich  run  to  waste  here." 

"  Would  it  not  be  far  more  cruel,"  asked  Mil- 
dred tenderly,  "  to  keep  me  from  the  man  I  love  ?  " 

"  Mildred  dear,  I  am  awake,"  I  tried  to  say,  for 
through  my  bewildered  brain  the  meaning  of  all 
this  had  begun  to  penetrate,  and  I  realized  for  the 
first  time  that  I  had  been  hearing  what  was  too  sa- 
cred for  any  other  ears  than  those  of  Mildred  and 
her  lover,  Ralph  Everett. 

But  the  words  choked  in  my  throat,  there  was 
only  an  inarticulate  murmur,  and  the  voices  ceased. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  And  a  voice  said  in  mastery  while  I  strove, 
Guess  now  who  holds  thee  ?  — 

'  Death,'  I  said ; 

But  there  the  silver  answer  rang, 
'Not  Death,  hut  Love.'  " 

SONNETS  FKOM  THE  PORTUGUESE. 

SOME  time  elapsed  ere  I  divined  where  we  were, 
and  then  I  discovered  that  we  had  been  carried  to 
Mr.  Everett's  house  and  were  all  lying  in  the  attic 
over  the  store.  Mildred  had  been  placed  on  his 
cot-bed  by  the  book-shelves,  and  he  lay  on  a  lounge 
a  few  feet  distant. 

After  a  time  my  straw  bed,  which  had  been  bor- 
rowed from  a  neighbor,  was  turned  about  so  that  I 
could  see  them.  I  was  too  weak  to  talk,  but  I  loved 
to  lie  and  look  at  them  when  the  terrible  pain  gave 
me  a  moment's  respite  to  think  of  anything  beside 
my  own  woes. 

The  little  town  was  crowded  ;  not  a  spare  room 
but  had  been  gladly  given  up  to  the  sufferers. 

Little  by  little  I  learned  ah1  that  had  happened. 
A  tree  had  been  uprooted  in  the  wild  storm  and 
had  fallen  across  the  track.  The  engine,  the  bag- 
gage car,  and  the  first  car  had  been  derailed.  The 
loss  of  life  had  not  been  great.  Poor  Helene,  the 
little  German  woman  and  her  baby  were  the  only 
ones  who  had  not  been  rescued. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         259 

But  in  all  the  cottages  around  lay  the  helpless, 
wounded  people,  who  had  come  so  far  over  land 
and  sea  only  to  meet  this  terrible  fate. 

The  telegraph  lines  had  been  thrown  down  in  the 
storm,  and  it  was  two  days  before  word  could  be 
sent  and  the  debris  cleared  away  so  that  trains 
could  come  from  the  west.  The  little  German  doc- 
tor who  had  set  my  bones  while  I  was  unconscious, 
and  had  left  medicine  for  us  all,  did  not  appear  but 
once  or  twice  after  the  first  call,  for  there  were  a 
score  or  more  of  poor,  maimed  creatures,  some  of 
them  his  own  countrymen,  who  needed  him  even 
more  sorely  than  we. 

What  would  have  become  of  us  during  those  three 
days  of  partial  unconsciousness  and  suffering  and 
impatient  waiting  for  our  friends  if  it  had  not  been 
for  "  Jim  "  ! 

Jim  was  a  character.  Not  even  the  pain  could 
so  wholly  banish  my  sense  of  humor  as  to  prevent 
my  seeing  that. 

I  could  not  learn  whether  there  was  a  woman  in 
town  or  not,  but  I  afterwards  heard  that  Jim  had 
let  it  be  understood  that  he  was  commissioned  by 
the  "  boss  "  to  be  his  sole  attendant,  and  warn  every 
one  else  to  keep  his  distance.  Half  a  dozen  times 
a  day  the  big,  freckled,  red-haired  fellow  creaked 
up  the  stairs  in  his  stocking  feet,  bringing  water 
and  gruel  and  bouquets  of  gorgeous  nasturtiums 
and  crimson  phlox  from  his  little  garden  patch 
across  the  way.  Jim  had  an  eye  for  the  beautiful, 
and  thought  it  a  pity  that  we  should  have  nothing 


260        MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

better  to  look  upon  than  the  long  rows  of  sombre 
books  which  lined  one  side  of  the  walls  and  formed 
Mr.  Everett's  library. 

Accordingly  the  poor  man  had  stripped  his  own 
bachelor  premises  of  all  the  precious  adornments 
sent  him  by  his  sweetheart  for  the  last  three 
Christmases.  There  was  a  gilded  sugar-scoop  tied 
with  pink  ribbons,  and  a  remarkable  landscape 
painted  on  the  concave  surface  of  the  interior. 
There  was  also  a  rolling-pin  with  a  covering  of 
French  blue  plush,  adorned  with  gilded  handles, 
and  bearing  on  its  surface  a  large  thermometer 
surmounted  by  a  gilded  spread  eagle. 

These  were  especially  devoted  to  my  benefit,  for 
which  I  was  duly  appreciative.  Over  Mildred's 
bed  was  hung  a  "  God  Bless  Our  Home,"  wonder- 
fully worked  in  the  national  colors  ;  and  beside  Mr. 
Everett's  sofa  was  placed  a  gilded  milking-stool  of 
convenient  height  for  holding  vials  and  glasses,  the 
legs  artistically  interlaced  with  scarlet  ribbons,  and 
the  seat  decorated  with  a  painting,  whether  of  Ve- 
suvius in  eruption  or  a  dish  of  crushed  tomatoes,  I 
was  never  quite  sure. 

From  the  low  window  near  which  my  bed  was 
drawn  Jim  proudly  pointed  out  to  me  his  own 
quarters  opposite.  The  house  was  an  unpainted 
wooden  structure  of  one  story,  and  evidently  pos- 
sessed a  slanting  roof  with  gables,  though  the  ar- 
chitect had  erected  a  sham  facade  which  gave  the 
appearance,  when  one  took  a  front  view,  of  a  house 
with  a  flat  roof. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          261 

Extending  across  the  whole  front  of  the  house 
was  a  sign  of  unique  character  painted  in  black  on 
a  pink  ground,  of  which  I  subjoin  an  exact  copy. 

1886. 
FRANKLIN 

PHILOSOPHIC 

HERMITAGE 

INDEPENDENT  SCIENTIFIC  REPAIR  SHOP. 

CLOCKS,  COOPERING,  CHAIN  SAWS  FILED 

TIN  WARE,  POLITICS  &  THEOLOGY  TINKERED 

HUZZAH  FOR 

THE  UNION 

LABOR  PARTY. 

"Jim  is  an  odd  stick,"  Mr.  Everett  once  said 
with  a  feeble  smile,  as  the  awkward  fellow  was 
heard  anathematizing  himself  as  he  descended  the 
stairs  after  an  accidental  bang  of  the  door,  which 
made  us  all  wince. 

"  Jim  is  odd,  but  he  has  mighty  good  stuff  in 
him.  There  is  n't  anything  that  fellow  would  not 
do  for  me,  though  when  I  first  came  here  he  was 
pretty  fiery ;  a  regular  dynamiter  you  would  have 
thought.  But  since  I  started  the  debating  club, 
and  got  him  to  reading  history  a  little,  he  has 
calmed  down  a  good  deal,  and  has  come  to  find 
that  hard  facts  are  worth  more  than  all  his  former 
rhetorical  pyrotechnics  about  the  down-trodden 
workingman." 

At  last,  with  pale  and  terror-stricken  faces,  came 


2G2          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

aunt  Madison  and  Will  and  Alice  with  Dr.  Ells- 
worth from  Tacoma.  Then  ensued  a  new  order  of 
things.  Jim  vanished,  talking  was  forbidden,  the 
noise  everywhere  disappeared,  and  the  clumsy  carts 
passed  silently  beneath  our  window  over  a  thick 
bed  of  straw,  while  tall  screens,  improvised  from 
sheets  and  clothes-horses,  separated  us  from  each 
other  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  For  there  was 
not  another  room  in  town  to  be  had,  and  the  little 
grocery  below  had  been  metamorphosed  into  sleep- 
ing apartments  for  our  four  attendants.  They  al- 
ternately watched  and  slept. 

The  new  physician  threw  away  the  old  medicines, 
substituted  new  ones,  and  looked  with  grave  anxiety 
on  Mildred's  flushed  face  and  bounding  pulse.  She 
had  no  bones  broken  and  but  a  slight  wound,  and 
had  insisted  that  my  broken  bones  be  set  first. 

After  the  first  shock,  the  excitement  of  meeting 
Mr.  Everett  and  anxiety  for  us  all  had  sustained 
her,  but  now  she  was  sinking  fast.  The  delay  in 
attending  to  her  at  the  beginning  was  telling  upon 
her.  Whether  it  was  the  July  heat,  the  sight  of  so 
many  faces,  and  the  necessary  disturbance  when  so 
many  were  forced  to  be  in  one  room,  I  do  not  know, 
but  as  the  days  went  by  none  of  us  grew  better. 

Mildred  was  too  ill  to  be  moved  to  her  car.  Mr. 
Everett,  though  in  a  fair  way  to  recover,  was  too 
weak  to  stir  after  his  terrible  hemorrhage  and  the 
strain  upon  his  whole  system ;  while  I  could  not  en- 
dure to  be  touched  without  extreme  pain.  So  dur- 
ing the  July  days  we  lay  there  together  in  the  un- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          263 

finished  attic  room,  watching  the  doctor  come  and 
go,  and  tended  by  loving  hands  that  divided  their 
ministrations  and  the  delicacies  that  they  brought 
with  the  suffering  ones  who  lay  not  far  distant. 

"  Do  everything  for  them  that  I  would  have  had 
done,"  were  Mildred's  words  to  cousin  Will,  which 
he  understood  as  Mr.  Everett  did  not.  For  no  one 
was  allowed  to  tell  him  that  this  sweet  girl  lying 
there,  who  I  alone  knew  was  his  promised  wife, 
was  no  longer  the  teacher  whom  he  thought  her. 

But  the  doctor's  face  looked  graver  and  graver 
as  the  days  wore  on.  He  sat  up  half  the  night  with 
us,  performing  the  combined  duties  of  nurse  and 
physician. 

One  morning,  as  he  came  in  looking  weary  and 
jaded  after  but  four  hours'  rest,  he  sat  down  by 
Mildred's  bed,  with  a  face  that  in  spite  of  his  habit- 
ual professional  attempt  at  gayety  could  not  conceal 
the  gravest  concern. 

He  felt  her  pulse  and  motioned  furtively  to  aunt 
Madison,  who  stood  with  brimming  eyes  studying 
his  every  motion.  Mildred  glanced  up  and  read 
the  meaning  of  his  look.  She  said  nothing  for  a 
moment;  then  with  an  effort  to  keep  her  voice 
steady  she  said,  quietly,  "  Doctor,  be  honest  with 
me :  shall  I  live  ?  " 

"  My  dear,  I "  —  and  the  doctor  coughed  and 
turned  away  his  head  ;  "  I  —  we  "  —  he  glanced 
at  Mr.  Everett,  who  with  eyes  that  were  blazing 
like  coals  in  their  sockets  had  half  risen  on  his 
elbow  and  seemed  devouring  every  word,  —  "  my 
dear,  I  hope  so." 


264         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  Yes,  I  understand,"  replied  Mildred  calmly, 
after  a  searching  look  at  the  physician's  half- 
averted  face,  "  I  understand,  and  I  am  not  afraid  ; 
but  it  is  necessary  that  some  things  be  done,  and 
done  quickly." 

She  lay  a  few  moments  quietly  thinking.  No 
one  stirred  or  spoke,  and  the  silence  was  broken 
only  by  aunt  Madison's  half-stifled  sobs,  as  she 
turned  away  to  hide  her  emotion.  Presently  Mil- 
dred looked  up. 

"  Is  there  a  lawyer  in  the  village  ?  "  she  asked. 
"  I  want  to  change  my  —  that  is,  I  want  to  attend 
to  a  few  little  matters  of  business  that  must  not  be 
left  undone." 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Everett  huskily ;  "  there  was 
one  who  did  a  little  business,  but  he  died  a  month 
ago.'; 

Mildred  said  nothing  for  a  few  minutes,  then 
looking  up,  with  a  pale  face  and  lips  drawn  tense, 
she  said,  "  Auntie,  I  must  be  married  to-day." 

We  all  gave  an  involuntary  cry.  Mr.  Everett 
drew  his  hand  over  his  eyes.  Dr.  Ellsworth  and 
aunt  Madison  exchanged  looks  of  amazement  as  if 
to  say,  "  Is  the  girl  beside  herself  ?  "  I  alone  un- 
derstood what  it  all  meant. 

"  Yes,  auntie,"  Mildred  continued.  ?'  I  have  not 
yet  told  you ;  I  meant  to,  by  and  by.  I  did  not 
think  it  was  to  be  here  and  now ;  I  meant  to  have 
it  all  so  different ;  but  my  strength  is  going,  I  do 
not  know  whether  I  shall  —  I  dare  not  wait." 

She  gave  a  little  gasp  of  pain,  and  was  silent  a 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         265 

moment ;  then  she  added,  in  a  voice  which  I  could 
scarcely  hear,  "  I  have  told  Mr.  Everett  that  I  love 
him.  I  have  promised  to  be  his  wife." 

No  one  spoke  when  Mildred  had  finished,  and 
she  lay  with  closed  eyes,  while  aunt  Madison  stood 
as  if  struck  dumb,  gazing  incredulously  from  one 
to  the  other.  She  had  learned  that  they  were  old 
friends,  that  he  had  saved  her  life ;  perhaps  she  had 
suspected  more,  but  this  sudden  announcement  par- 
alyzed her  for  a  moment. 

Mr.  Everett  half  rose  again  from  his  couch  and 
leaned  toward  Mildred  as  if  to  speak,  but  the 
words  died  on  his  lips,  and  he  sank  back  exhausted 
and  lay  motionless. 

Aunt  Madison  softly  left  the  room,  but  soon  re- 
turned, and  kneeling  by  Mildred's  side  they  whis- 
pered together.  What  was  said  I  never  knew, 
but  I  was  certain  that  Mildred's  thought  was  for 
Ralph's  inheritance. 

An  hour  later,  another  physician,  who  had  been 
telegraphed  for  the  previous  day,  arrived.  He 
stepped  softly  into  the  room,  and  for  a  long  time 
gazed  intently  at  Mildred  as  she  lay  asleep,  and 
then  he  slipped  out,  and  I  heard  faint  murmurings 
of  voices  in  the  room  below  as  the  two  physicians 
held  a  consultation. 

"  Oh,  Mildred,  my  more  than  sister,"  I  inwardly 
groaned ;  "  must  I  lie  here  helpless  and  see  your 
precious  life  going  from  us  ?  Were  you  snatched 
from  the  jaws  of  death  but  to  fall  back  again  a 
helpless  victim  ?  If  this  must  be,  oh  that  we  had 
died  together  before  rescue  came  !  " 


266         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

I  had  given  my  whole  heart  to  this  girl.  I  had 
loved  her  with  a  love  which  made  all  other  friend- 
ships of  rny  life  seem  as  nothing.  In  loving  her  I 
felt  that  I  had  first  learned  what  love  meant,  and 
my  little,  petty  life  had  been  made  deeper,  broader, 
and  full  of  hitherto  undreamed-of  possibilities. 

The  hours  wore  away,  the  hours  of  Mildred's 
wedding-day.  "  Send  Jim  for  Mr.  Lightfoot,"  Mr. 
Everett  had  said  to  Will.  "  He  will  know  where 
to  find  him.  He  is  the  only  regular  clergyman 
within  fifty  miles." 

He  had  been  sent  for  post-haste,  and  that  even- 
ing, just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  the  west  and 
lighting  up  in  gorgeous  splendor  the  little  attic 
where  we  lay,  a  tall,  gray-haired  man  in  a  rusty, 
black  frock-coat,  and  with  prayer-book  in  hand, 
climbed  softly  up  the  creaking  stairs  and  paused 
in  the  doorway,  glancing  in  a  tender,  fatherly  way 
at  the  two  pale  faces  which  looked  up  to  greet  his 
coming. 

The  windows  were  opened,  and  the  blue  paper 
curtains  had  disappeared  to  be  replaced  by  white 
muslin  ones.  A  dozen  pitchers  were  placed  around 
the  room  containing  the  brilliant  wild  flowers  of 
the  neighborhood  that  had  been  sent  in  by  Jim  and 
his  friends.  A  wreath  of  golden -rod  and  purple 
asters  at  Jim's  desire  was  laid  upon  the  white  coun- 
terpane at  Mildred's  feet.  For  the  news  that  there 
was  for  some  strange  reason  to  be  a  marriage  had 
spread  like  wildfire,  and  many  a  rough,  sunburned 
man  had  tapped  softly  at  the  door  of  the  little 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         267 

shop  to  ask  what  it  meant,  and  beg  Alice,  who 
stood  on  guard,  to  be  allowed  to  come  up  and 
stand,  if  only  in  the  doorway,  and  see  the  "  boss  " 
married. 

One  day,  a  month  later,  Alice  told  me  all  about 
it.  "  You  don't  suppose,  Miss,  he  's  agoin  ter  die  ?  " 
asked  one  of  them,  as  they  stood  around  the  door 
in  a  quiet,  awe-struck  group.  "  I  don't  know  what 
we  fellers  'ud  ever  do  without  him,"  he  added  husk- 
ily, as  he  drew  the  back  of  his  grimy  hand  across 
his  eyes. 

"  I  don't  go  much  on  religion,"  said  another,  who 
sat  on  the  doorstep  leaning  his  head  in  his  hands ; 
"  but  I  '11  be  blamed  ef  that  ere  feller,  with  all  his 
college  larnin'  and  soft-spoken  ways,  a-comin'  out 
here  and  roughin'  it  with  us,  and  a-nursin'  and  a- 
teachin'  and  a-helpin'  of  us  all,  —  I'll  be  blamed  if 
that  ain't  the  Christianest  thing  I  ever  see." 

I  did  not  wonder  that  these  men  loved  their 
teacher. 

Ralph  —  I  learned  to  call  him  that  afterwards, 
so  I  call  him  so  now,  for  it  seems  more  natural  — 
Ralph  Everett  had  a  face  such  as  one  sees  only 
once  or  twice  in  a  lifetime.  I  did  not  wonder  that 
Mildred  loved  it  so  that  she  kept  awake  to  look  at 
it  as  he  slept. 

The  forehead  was  broad  and  low,  from  which  the 
brown  hair  rose  thick  and  abruptly,  framing  the 
strong,  almost  rugged  face.  The  eyes  —  such  eyes ! 
They  were  the  frankest,  truest  eyes  that  ever  glori- 
fied a  human  face.  Not  even  Mildred's  eyes  were 


268         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

like  those,  although  hers  could  sparkle  or  com- 
mand or  grow  wonderfully  soft  and  tender.  The 
chin  and  mouth  were  hidden  in  a  luxuriant  blond 
beard,  in  which  gleamed  now  and  then  a  silver 
thread.  The  broad  chest,  the  sunburned  face  and 
hands  which  the  pallor  of  sickness  was  fast  restor- 
ing to  their  pristine  whiteness,  all  evinced  a  strong, 
active  life,  strangely  contrasting  with  the  pitiful 
helplessness  which  had  now  prostrated  it. 

But  surely  strength  and  health  would  soon  re- 
turn ;  surely  love  would  triumph ;  and  these  two,  so 
strangely  reunited  in  the  very  jaws  of  death,  would 
some  day  make  all  previous  joys  as  nothing  to  that 
deep,  full,  complete  satisfaction  with  which  heaven 
should  crown  their  lives ;  these  two,  who  seemed 
of  all  the  world  the  ones  most  worthy  of  such 
blessedness. 

I  had  dreamed  it  all  out.  Some  beautiful  day 
in  the  months  to  come  I  should  stand  as  bride' s- 
maid  beside  a  happy,  white-robed  bride.  There 
would  be  flowers  and  music  and  smiles.  There 
would  be  the  strong,  gallant  lover,  the  one  man  of 
all  the  world  who  was  worthy  to  wed  my  precious 
Mildred.  The  man  whom  she  would  always  know 
had  married  her  for  herself  alone,  a  man  whom 
wealth  or  happiness  could  not  tempt,  who  should 
nobly  help  her  in  the  great  work  that  she  had  set 
herself  to  do. 

To  tell  the  truth,  I  had  thought  also,  with  almost 
a  pang  of  jealousy,  what  this  would  mean  to  me, 
and  what  my  life  would  be  without  her. 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         269 

I  could  scarcely  realize  that  now,  here,  in  this 
brown,  unplastered  attic  room,  in  a  dreary  frontier 
mining  town,  with  no  music  but  the  chirping  of  the 
August  crickets  in  the  little  field  behind  us,  with- 
out wedding-robe  or  wedding  guests,  my  Mildred 
was  to  become  a  bride. 

They  bolstered  me  up  to  see  it  all,  as  well  as 
could  be  done  with  my  splintered  leg  and  arm., 
I  was  trembling  violently,  and  the  doctor  gave  me 
a  sedative  powder  and  sat  by  me  with  hand  on 
my  pulse.  Ralph's  lounge  had  been  moved  beside 
Mildred's  cot.  His  face  was  as  deadly  pale  as  her 
own. 

"  Mildred,"  he  whispered  hoarsely,  —  they  had 
not  spoken  to  each  other  since  in  the  morning  when 
she  had  said  she  would  marry  him,  —  "  Mildred, 
have  you  counted  the  cost?  Think,  darling,  you 
may  get  well ;  do  you  realize  what  you  are  doing  ?  " 

"  Yes,  far  better  than  you  do,"  she  replied  with 
a  faint  smile. 

The  clergyman  quietly  took  his  place  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  and  as  the  solemn  words  of  the  Episco- 
pal marriage  service  broke  the  silence,  Mildred, 
who  had  been  lying  with  closed  eyes,  started  visibly. 
She  had  not  before  observed  that  the  clergyman 
had  a  prayer-book.  I  could  see  that  she  was  greatly 
agitated,  and  instantly  divined  the  cause. 

She  had  always  declared  that  she  would  never 
under  any  conditions  allow  herself  to  be  married 
by  that  service. 

I  knew  her  reasons  for  this  and  how  strongly 


270         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

she  felt  about  it,  so  I  understood  what  her  con- 
sternation must  be  now.  All  this  flashed  through 
my  brain  before  the  clergyman  had  read  three 
lines. 

Then  Mildred  gave  a  little  gasp.  A  crimson 
flush  leaped  into  her  cheeks,  and  I  knew  her  mind 
was  made  up.  Instantly  her  voice  broke  in, 
strangely  clear  and  strong. 

"  Please  wait,  sir,"  she  said.  "  I  beg  your  par- 
don. I  did  not  know  this  service  was  to  be  used. 
I  cannot  be  married  by  it.  Can  you  not  substi- 
tute some  other  ?  " 

Every  one  but  Ralph  was  thunderstruck;  but 
they  were  getting  inured  to  surprises,  and  no  one 
spoke  while  the  clergyman,  for  a  moment  too 
shocked  to  reply,  gazed  in  blank  amazement  into 
Mildred's  earnest  eyes. 

But  Ralph  understood,  and  said  calmly,  "  No, 
dear,  he  cannot.  I  should  have  thought  of  this 
before.  I  am  not  willing  that  you  should  promise 
what  this  service  contains.  So,  in  the  presence 
of  God  and  of  these  witnesses,  we  two  alone  will 
bind  ourselves  lawfully  in  the  marriage  bond." 

Then,  holding  Mildred's  right  hand  in  his,  while 
the  minister  stood  wonderingly  aside,  he  said  with 
clear,  unshaken  voice  : 

"  I  take  thee,  Mildred,  to  be  my  lawful,  wedded 
wife,  to  love  and  to  serve,  to  comfort  and  cherish, 
to  honor  and  keep,  so  long  as  we  both  shall  live ; 
and  thereto,  God  helping,  I  plight  thee  my  troth." 

A  deathly  pallor  had  crept  over  Mildred's  face. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         271 

Just  then  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun  for  a 
moment  streamed  into  the  little  room,  irradiating 
its  bare  walls,  and  transfiguring  with  magic  light 
those  two  faces  on  which  we  were  gazing  with 
breathless  silence. 

Then,  after  a  moment's  pause,  Mildred  with  a 
great  effort  leaned  an  inch  nearer,  and  gently 
taking  Ralph's  brown  hand  in  both  her  slender 
white  ones,  said,  with  blanched  lips : 

"  I  take  thee,  Ralph,  to  be  my  lawful,  wedded 
husband,  to  love  and  to  serve,  to  comfort  and 
cherish,  to  honor  and  keep,  so  long  as  we  both 
shall  live ;  and  thereto,  God  helping,  I  plight  thee 
my  troth." 

After  the  last  words  had  died  tremblingly  away 
on  Mildred's  lips,  the  clergyman  at  a  sign  from 
her  lifted  his  voice  in  prayer,  while  Alice  kneeled 
sobbing  by  the  bedside,  and  over  my  eyes  there 
came  a  mist.  My  senses  reeled,  and  I  remember 
no  more. 

Weeks  afterward  Alice  told  me  that  Mr.  Light- 
foot  had  gone  away  with  a  fatherly  benediction, 
and  a  purse  the  richer  by  a  thousand  dollars  for 
the  marriage  service  which  he  did  not  perform. 

The  days  went  by,  and  I  knew  but  little.  The 
tall,  white  screen  shut  out  everything  from  me.  I 
was  too  weak  to  ask  about  Mildred,  but  I  knew 
that  she  had  not  left  us.  Surely  God  had  been 
merciful.  She  was  still  to  live  and  love  and  bless 
the  world. 

At  last  came  a  day,  —  it  was  the  first  day  of 


272         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

September,  I  recall,  —  the  very  day  when  we  had 
planned  to  reach  San  Francisco  on  our  return 
from  the  Alaskan  trip  which  we  had  contemplated  ; 
the  screen  was  removed,  and  Mildred  and  Ralph, 
still  pale  and  wan,  but  with  the  glow  of  returning 
health  lighting  up  their  happy  faces,  sat  beside  me 
and  whispered  words  of  farewell. 

"  Oh,  Mildred,  you  did  not  die,  you  are  alive," 
I  sobbed  weakly,  too  happy  to  keep  the  tears  back. 

"  Yes,  darling,"  she  said,  "  for  it  was  love  that 
saved  me.  I  had  something  to  live  for,  and  I 
fought  hard.  Now  I  am  to  leave  you  for  a  while. 
My  husband  and  I "  (how  proudly  she  said  that), 
"  my  husband  and  I  are  going  away." 

"  Her  aunt  Madison  has  kindly  offered  us  her 
beautiful,  private  car,  and  we  are  going  away  for  a 
long  rest  before  we  come  back  to  our  work,"  said 
Ralph  innocently,  and  I  saw  that  for  some  reason 
Mildred  had  still  kept  him  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  married  a  great  heiress  instead  of  a 
poor  teacher.  "  This  is  to  be  our  honey-moon, 
you  know,"  he  added,  looking  at  her  with  the 
lovelight  shining  in  his  eyes.  "  We  are  going 
quietly.  No  one  but  Jim  is  to  know  of  it,  for  the 
doctor  says  we  must  spare  ourselves  the  excitement 
of  the  good-byes  which  would  have  to  be  said  if 
the  people  knew  we  were  going.  The  men  have 
been  clamoring  for  a  month  to  see  me,  and  it  has 
been  hard  for  me  to  keep  quiet  and  not  let  them 
come." 

"  How  would   you   feel,"  asked   his  wife   in  a 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         273 

careless  tone,  "  if  you  had  married  a  rich  woman, 
who  would  ask  you  to  go  away  and  never  come 
back  to  work  here  again  ? "  and  Mildred,  who 
was  holding  my  hand,  gave  it  a  mischievous  little 
squeeze  as  she  looked  demurely  out  of  the  window 
and  awaited  his  reply. 

"  I  don't  know.  I  am  afraid  I  could  not  quite 
forgive  her  unless  she  gave  me  better  work  to  do 
elsewhere.  I  could  not  be  idle,  you  know,  even 
with  you,  darling,"  he  answered,  smiling  at  the 
bright  face  beside  him. 

"  Ah,  the  world  is  large  ;  there  are  many  who 
need  us  ;  rich  or  poor,  we  will  find  our  work  some- 
where," said  Mildred  softly,  as  if  to  herself.  Then 
as  Jim's  steps  were  heard  at  the  door  she  started. 

"  Come,  Ralph,  one  last  look  at  your  books  and 
room,  it  may  be  long  before  we  return.  Kiss 
Ruby,  too;  you  must  be  her  brother  now,  you 
know." 

Two  warm  kisses  were  on  my  cheek,  then  the 
door  opened  and  shut,  and  they  were  gone. 

Everything  had  been  arranged  for  my  comfort, 
and  a  month  later,  when  I  was  able  to  travel  in  a 
private  car  which  Mildred  had  sent  us,  aunt  and 
Alice,  cousin  Will  and  I,  were  on  the  Northern 
Pacific  Road  again,  bound  eastward.  And  with  us 
went  the  motherless  little  Karl  and  Annchen  to 
find  a  new  home  and  many  friends. 

One  day,  as  we  were  speeding  along  over  the 
Dakota  prairies,  Alice  and  I  fell  to  talking  as  usual 
about  the  summer  that  was  past  and  its  strange, 


274         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

strange  ending.  Suddenly  Alice  exclaimed,  "  But, 
Ruby,  I  never  thought  to  ask  you  before  ;  do  you 
understand  why  Mildred,  on  her  deathbed  as  we 
supposed,  should  have  stopped  that  minister?  I 
thought  I  understood  most  of  her  ideas,  but  that 
was  inexplicable  to  me." 

"  Yes,  I  understand  it,  I  suppose,  for  I  once  had 
an  argument  with  her  about  it,"  I  replied.  "  I  re- 
member we  had  been  to  a  stylish  wedding  at  Trin- 
ity. There  were  ten  bridesmaids,  and  the  bride  was 
dressed  like  a  princess,  and  I  remember  how,  as 
we  drove  away,  Mildred  exclaimed  that  she  would 
rather  have  been  married  in  a  print  dress  in  a  log- 
cabin  and  promise  what  was  honorable  and  true, 
than  to  have  had  the  beautiful  display  which  this 
bride  had,  and  make  such  promises  as  she  had  done. 

"  '  It  is  the  most  beautiful  service  in  the  world,' 
I  stoutly  maintained  ;  '  pray  what  can  you  object  to 
in  it  ? ' 

" '  In  the  first  place,  the  giving  away  of  the  bride 
is  a  humiliating  thing,'  she  said  :  '  it  is  a  relic  of 
the  feudal  times,  when  a  woman  actually  was  given 
away.  It  implies  dependence  ;  a  woman  is  thus 
simply  passed  along  from  the  guardianship  of  one 
man  to  that  of  another.' 

"This  was  a  novel  idea  which  impressed  me 
at  first  as  being  needlessly  crotchety.  '  Then,  of 
course,'  I  replied,  'you  object  to  the  promise  to 
obey.' 

"  '  Certainly,'  said  Mildred.  '  I  should  not  re- 
spect myself  if  I  could  make  such  a  promise.  Obe- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         275 

dience  implies  authority,  and  a  man  and  his  wife 
are  equal.  They  do  not  stand  in  the  relation  of 
master  and  servant,  employer  and  employee,  or 
parent  and  child.' 

" '  Yes  ;  but  it  does  n't  mean  anything,'  I  expos- 
tulated, '  it  is  simply  a  form.' 

" '  So  much  the  worse,'  was  her  uncompromising 
answer.  '  I  will  have  no  idle  forms,  no  humiliating 
promises  which  I  should  not  intend  to  keep.  If  I 
ever  find  the  man  whom  I  can  marry,  I  think  I 
shall  love  him  enough  not  to  be  selfish  and  willful, 
and  he  will  love  me  enough  to  respect  me  as  his 
equal.  There  can  be  no  question  of  authority  and 
obedience  in  the  true  marriage. 

" '  Then,  moreover,'  she  said,  '  I  object  to  the 
man's  making  the  promise,  "  With  all  my  worldly 
goods  I  thee  endow."  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten 
he  does  nothing  of  the  sort,  and  the  wife  usually 
asks  for  every  dollar  that  she  gets ! ' 

"  So  you  perceive  that  after  hearing  her  say  this 
I  was  not  so  much  astounded  as  the  rest  of  you 
were,"  I  concluded. 

"  Well,"  said  Alice,  drawing  a  long  breath  and 
looking  meditatively  at  the  diamond  engagement- 
ring  on  her  white  finger,  "  I  never  in  my  life  saw 
such  an  extraordinary  girl  as  Mildred. 

"  Now,  I  have  vowed  that  I  would  never  be  mar- 
ried but  by  that  beautiful  time-honored  service. 
Dear  me  !  if  we  all  took  everything  to  heart  as  lit- 
erally as  she  does,  what  would  become  of  society  ?  " 

"  It  would  probably  learn  to  speak  truth  and  not 
lies,"  I  answered. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

IN  the  next  few  months  I  had  many  letters  from 
Mildred  and  Ralph,  letters  full  of  the  warm  interest 
in  life  which  came  with  returning  health  and  were 
an  index  of  unceasing  thought  and  activity  in  num- 
berless directions.  Scarcely  a  state  or  territory 
from  Utah  to  Virginia  was  left  unvisited  and  un- 
benefited  by  their  brief  stay. 

Their  course  was  not  merely  in  the  beaten  track, 
a  superficial  glimpse  of  the  larger  towns  and  fash- 
ionable resorts,  but  far  away  from  railroads  and 
civilization.  On  horseback  tours  in  forest  and 
mountain  regions  they  passed  from  cabin  to  cabin 
among  poor  whites  and  blacks,  studying  the  peo- 
ple and  their  possibilities,  the  country  and  its 
resources. 

The  letters  which  Mildred  sent  me  during  these 
months  would  fill  half  a  volume,  but  I  can  find 
space  for  only  one  extract  from  them. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  she  once  wrote,  "  I  thought  I 
knew  before  how  much  there  was  that  needed  to  be 
done,  but  I  am  finding  everyday,  after  all,  how  little 
I  actually  realized  the  true  state  of  things.  It  is 
not  so  much  the  physical  discomfort  that  appeals 
to  my  pity,  as  the  apathy,  the  ignorance  and  lack 
of  ambition  for  anything  better ;  the  bitter  reli- 


MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         277 

gious  and  political  prejudices  that  still  linger,  and 
the  spectacle  of  a  population  increasing  in  numbers 
and  increasing  in  illiteracy. 

"  Of  course  there  are  thousands  of  exceptions  to 
all  these  observations.  I  am  not  pessimistic. 

"  The  South  is  awaking,  is  advancing  rapidly  in 
many  ways,  and,  as  I  pass  swiftly  from  place  to 
place  and  see  new  facts  and  phases  of  life,  I  am 
constantly  forced  to  reconsider  and  readjust  my 
previous  convictions.  Yet  on  the  whole  the  main 
impression  which  I  had  in  the  beginning  survives. 
Here  is  a  vast  territory  practically  not  so  well  known 
to  us  Northerners  as  most  European  countries,  and 
with  a  people  who  know  us  far  less  than  we  know 
them ;  and  here,  as  I  am  sometimes  almost  com- 
pelled to  believe,  is  the  field  for  all  my  work  and 
energy. 

"  If  I  had  twice  my  wealth,  I  believe  I  should 
spend  half  of  it  in  the  South.  I  would  engage  a 
few  thousand  of  the  best  of  our  '  surplus  '  women 
of  New  England  and  scatter  them  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  Southern  land,  and  set 
them  at  work  doing  some  of  the  things  which  so 
need  to  be  done. 

"  As  it  is,  I  have  picked  out  certain  strategic 
places  where  I  shall  put  a  few  at  work,  and  for  the 
boy  or  girl  who  is  willing  to  study  and  not  afraid  of 
manual  labor,  I  have  made  a  good  education  possible. 

"  That  is  the  most  that  can  be  done.  Putting  the 
right  persons  in  the  right  places  is  the  best  that  I 
can  do,  and  then  they  must  do  the  rest. 


278          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  As  you  know,  I  have  never  felt  inclined  to  put 
my  money  into  building  new  institutions,  thinking 
it  best  to  work  in  other  ways,  or  to  help  sustain 
those  institutions  already  established.  But  in  these 
last  months  my  heart  has  gone  out  to  the  thousands 
of  neglected  little  colored  children  of  the  South 
who  are  orphans,  and  who  in  many  places  have  not 
even  a  county  poorhouse  to  shelter  them. 

"  I  am  thinking  of  establishing  an  orphanage 
in  every  one  of  the  Southern  states  similar  to  the 
one  at  Chattanooga  which  I  have  recently  visited. 
I  could  talk  to  you  for  hours  about  that  brave 
Northern  woman,  Mrs.  Steele,  who  has  so  nobly 
been  giving  her  life  to  this  work. 

"  At  first  persecuted,  ostracized,  and  despised, 
her  building  erected  at  her  own  cost  burned  by  in- 
cendiaries, she  has  gone  unflinchingly  on,  until  now 
she  has  won  the  respect  and  has  the  aid  of  the  best 
society  in  Chattanooga. 

"  She  has  rescued  hundreds  of  poor  little  orphan 
waifs  from  the  chain-gang  where  they  were  put  for 
petty  offenses,  and  from  the  street  where  they 
roamed,  with  no  bed  but  the  sidewalk  and  gutter. 
She  has  clothed  them,  fed  them,  taught  them, 
mothered  them,  and  saved  them.  In  all  the  South 
I  can  hear  of  but  one  other  colored  orphanage,  for 
I  find  that  the  people  for  the  most  part  are  not  yet 
ready  to  tax  themselves  for  the  support  of  '  little 
nigger  brats.' " 

I  did  not  see  Mildred  until  February.  She  had 
telegraphed  me  to  meet  her  in  New  York,  saying 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          279 

in  her  message  that  she  and  Ralph  were  about  to 
go  abroad  for  four  years. 

By  this  time  I  had  thrown  away  my  crutch  and 
was  myself  again,  and  I  hastened  to  meet  her,  as 
she  had  appointed,  at  our  old  rooms  at  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel. 

She  was  out  when  I  arrived,  and  I  watched  ea- 
gerly from  the  window  for  her  coming.  Presently 
I  saw  her,  —  how  vividly  I  recall  the  picture,  — 
her  hand  on  her  husband's  arm,  tripping  along 
briskly  in  the  winter  air,  the  roses  in  her  cheeks, 
her  tall,  slight  figure  clad  in  a  trim  suit  of  dark 
green,  her  head  surmounted  by  a  soft  toque  of  the 
same  color,  trimmed  with  rich  green  holly-leaves 
and  red  berries. 

How  beautiful  she  was !  More  beautiful  than 
ever,  I  thought,  as  in  glancing  up  she  caught  a 
glimpse  of  me  waiting,  breathless,  and  threw  me  a 
kiss  with  girlish  glee.  In  a  moment  we  were  in 
each  other's  arms. 

How  tall  and  stalwart  Ralph  looked  as  he  seized 
my  hand  in  his  strong  grasp  ! 

I  remembered  that  Mildred  had  once  likened 
him  to  a  young  Norse  god,  and  I  did  not  wonder. 
As  for  Mildred,  after  the  first  greetings  were  over 
and  we  had  ensconced  ourselves  on  a  tete-a-tete  for 
an  evening's  talk,  I  soon  perceived  that  a  certain 
indefinable  change  had  come  over  her.  I  could 
hardly  tell  what  it  was  at  first. 

There  was  a  vivacity  and  charm  and  sprightli- 
ness  that  I  had  never  seen  before.  I  had  always 


280         MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

thought  her  charming,  though  perhaps  a  bit  too 
reserved  and  dignified.  Some  people  had  thought 
her  cold,  but  I  knew  better.  Now  all  the  latent 
passion  and  warmth  of  her  nature  had  been 
aroused,  and  I  saw  that  she  had  possibilities  of 
which  I  had  not  dreamed. 

"What  is  it,  Mildred?"  I  asked,  after  Kalph 
had  left  us  alone.  "  Somehow  you  seem  —  I 
scarcely  know  what  to  say  —  you  seem  so  young 
and  happy,  as  if  "  — 

Mildred  finished,  "  as  if  I  had  been  drinking  of 
the  elixir  of  life  and  had  become  a  new  creature. 
Yes,  dear,"  she  added,  "  and  so  I  have.  Oh,  I  am 
so  happy,  so  unspeakably  happy  !  " 

Then  suddenly  turning  impulsively  and  throw- 
ing her  arms  around  me,  her  face  shining  with  a 
new  light,  she  exclaimed,  "How  I  wish  every  one 
else  were  as  happy  too. 

"  Sometimes  it  seems  as  if  it  were  too  much,  as 
if  in  this  sorrowful  world  I  had  no  right  to  be  so 
supremely  happy.  So  often  in  these  last  months," 
she  added  musingly,  "  I  have  said  to  myself  those 
lines  that  seemed  written  for  me  alone : 

"  '  The  face  of  all  the  world  is  changed,  I  think, 
Since  first  I  heard  the  footsteps  of  thy  soul,  .   .  . 
Betwixt  me  and  the  dreadful  outer  brink 
Of  obvious  death,  where  I,  who  thought  to  sink, 
Was  caught  up  into  love  and  taught  the  whole 
Of  life  in  a  new  rhythm.  .  .  .  ' 

"Yes,"  continued  Mildred  after  a  little  pause, 
and  her  eyes  grew  soft  and  tender,  "  a  year  ago 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          281 

I  thought  that  love  would  never  come,  and  I  now 
sometimes  tremble  at  the  thought  of  what  I  came 
so  near  missing.  I  do  not  know  how,  once  having 
learned  the  blessedness  of  this  love,  I  could  have 
courage  to  live  if  Ralph  were  taken  and  I  left. 
Oh,"  she  added  in  a  broken  whisper,  as  for  a 
moment  she  bowed  her  head  in  her  hands,  "  if 
when  death  comes  it  will  only  mercifully  take  us 
both  together."  Ah  me !  How  little  we  both 
dreamed  in  what  way  that  prayer  was  to  be  an- 
swered. 

Presently  she  raised  her  head  and  continued, 
while  her  warm  arms  were  about  me  again  and 
my  head  lay  pillowed  on  her  shoulder.  "  Ralph  is 
so  kind,  so  good,  so  tender,  so  unselfish  !  Really, 
at  first  he  seemed  almost  sorry  when  I  told  him 
my  secret  and  he  learned  that  he  had  married  an 
heiress,  as  if  he  had  lost  the  joy  of  working  for 
me.  How  he  thanked  me  for  keeping  the  secret ! 

"  And  oh,  Ruby,  the  thought  of  what  he  is 
makes  me  so  ashamed  of  myself,"  added  Mildred 
humbly.  "  I  have  come  to  see  how  far  beyond 
anything  that  I  have  done  was  his  noble  conse- 
cration of  all  his  time  and  culture  and  ability  to 
enrich  the  lives  of  those  rough  frontier  men,  while 
I  have  done  nothing  but  sit  in  a  velvet  chair  and 
sign  cheques  for  money  which  I  did  not  earn,  and 
could  never  spend  on  myself." 

Then,  after  a  pause  :  "  Well,  little  sister,"  she 
continued, "  you  do  not  know,  and  I  have  no  words 
to  tell  you,  of  my  happiness.  I  never  dreamed  of 


282          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

what  I  was  losing  in  all  those  years  before  love 
came.  I  used  to  feel  so  strong  and  self-contained 
and  independent,  and  now,  it  is  strange  enough, 
but  I  hardly  know  whether  J  have  a  mind  of  my 
own  or  not.  If  I  have,  I  cannot  tell  what  it  is 
until  I  have  asked  Ralph ; "  and  she  laughed  a 
happy  laugh. 

"  Oh,  Mildred,  to  think  that  I  should  ever  live 
to  hear  you  say  that !  "  I  exclaimed,  laughing  too. 
"  And  do  you  still  want  to  vote  and  decline 
to  obey  ?  Is  your  haughty  spirit  quelled,  and 
have  "  — 

"Yes,"  said  Mildred,  ambiguously.  "Ralph  is 
even  more  of  a  suffragist  than  I,  and  declares  that 
this  nation  has  no  right  to  call  itself  a  republic  so 
long  as  one  half  of  the  people  are  disfranchised. 
And  he  says  the  most  splendid  thing  he  ever  saw  a 
woman  do  was  my  stopping  that  clergyman ; "  and 
she  laughed  again  a  ringing,  girlish  laugh. 

After  a  while  we  began  to  talk  about  Mildred's 
plans  for  the  future. 

"  I  want  you  to  know  everything,  dear,"  she  said 
in  her  frank,  confiding  way.  "  We  are  going  away 
for  four  years,  perhaps  longer,  for  I  want  to  study 
many  things,  and  I  want  to  see  Australia  before  I 
return  —  that  is  a  country  with  a  future. 

"  We  must  go  now,  though  I  leave  so  much 
which  is  only  begun  and  to  which  I  wish  to  give 
my  constant  personal  attention.  But  the  mental 
strain  this  year  has  been  great.  I  could  not  live 
through  another  like  it.  We  both  want  to  get 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         283 

far  away  from  our  responsibilities  and  possessions 
for  a  while.  I  want  to  gain  perspective,  to  have 
time  for  quiet  thought  and  study. 

"  This  was  my  plan  from  the  first,  as  you  know, 
and  now  it  is  imperative.  It  is  impossible  for 
Ralph  to  write  his  book  with  the  cares  and  distrac- 
tions which  we  are  constantly  having." 

'•His  book?"  I  asked;  "I  had  not  heard  of 
that.  Pray  what  is  it  about  ?  " 

"  It  is  to  treat  of  the  colored  races  in  our  coun- 
try. He  has  been  gathering  the  material  for  a 
long  time,  and  it  will  be  an  exhaustive  work,"  she 
answered.  Then  she  added,  "  I,  too,  have  a  little 
book  planned,  but  of  a  very  different  sort." 

"  What !  you,  Mildred,  an  authoress !  "  I  cried. 
"  Shall  you  really  write  a  book  ?  " 

"  Oh,  that  is  nothing  nowadays,  when  authors 
are  as  plenty  as  cooks  and  the  world  is  flooded 
with  literary  rubbish,"  answered  Mildred  rather 
disdainfully.  "  Any  scribbler  can  write  a  book. 
It  takes  neither  wit  nor  wisdom  for  that." 

"  Of  course ;  but  you  are  not  a  scribbler,  and 
you  won't  write  rubbish,"  I  retorted:  "  But  tell 
me,  what  is  it  to  be  about  ?  will  it  be  a  story  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  answered.  "  The  public  does  not 
need  any  more  stories,  at  least  mediocre  ones,  and 
mine  could  never  be  anything  else.  I  trust  that  I 
have  too  much  self-respect  left  to  be  guilty  of  in- 
flicting another  purposeless  book  on  the  world's 
already  overstocked  supply.  Besides,  you  know, 
Ho  wells  says  all  the  stories  have  been  told." 


284          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  Then  what  is  it  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Is  it  sermons  ? 
or  sonnets  ?  or  "  — 

"  No,"  interposed  Mildred  ;  "  it  is  Suggestions, 
—  suggestions  to  the  idle  and  thoughtless,  the  rich 
and  the  unconsciously  selfish.  I  am  confident  that 
there  are  some  tens  of  thousands  of  people  in  this 
country  who  are  tolerably  well-meaning,  who  have 
a  superfluity  of  leisure  and  wealth  and  strength 
which  they  are  letting  run  to  waste  because  no  one 
has  suggested  to  them  what  they  might  do. 

"  Few  people  like  to  take  the  initiative.  They 
wait  for  some  one  to  plan  and  organize  and  tell 
them  definitely  what  to  do. 

"My  first  intention  is  to  suggest  to  them  that 
they  are  peculiarly  privileged  mortals,  and  that 
life  is  worth  living  only  on  the  condition  that  one 
does  something  with  it.  That  they  .are  sinners 
above  all  other  sinners  since  civilization  began,  if 
they  let  themselves  be  ignorant  of  what  they  should 
know  and  indifferent  to  the  evil  which  they  should 
help  ;  the  more  their  culture  and  ability  the  greater 
their  debt. 

"  I  mean  -to  suggest  some  very  practical  things 
which  might  be  done,  which  need  to  be  done. 
There  will  be  suggestions  for  those  who  have  time 
and  no  money,  suggestions  for  those  who  have 
much  money  and  no  time,  suggestions  for  people 
who  think  they  have  neither  time  nor  money,  and 
suggestions  for  developing  influence  and  talent 
where  there  seems  very  little  to  start  with. 

"  Not  that  these  will  all  be  particularly  new  or 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          285 

original.  That  is  not  necessary.  We  heedless  mor- 
tals need  to  have  a  wise  thing  said  many  times 
and  in  many  ways  before  it  makes  much  impres- 
sion. 

"  I  shall  not  attempt  to  suggest  many  new  prin- 
ciples of  work,  but  simply  to  make  many  new  ap- 
plications of  the  old  ones. 

"  Oh,  Ruby,"  exclaimed  Mildred,  her  mobile 
features  glowing  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  thought, 
"what  a  metamorphosis  of  this  planet  we  little 
mortals  might  make  if  we  all  did,  and  did  wisely, 
what  it  is  quite  in  our  power  to  do !  " 

"Such  a  book  is  a  capital  idea,"  I  exclaimed, 
much  impressed  with  her  plan,  "  and  it  will  have 
double  weight  because  you  have  already  provided 
the  most  effective  object  lessons  as  illustrations  of 
what  might  be  done." 

"  That  is  not  exactly  what  I  mean,"  replied 
Mildred,  shaking  her  head.  "  No ;  few  persons 
have  it  in  their  power  to  work  in  the  way  that  I 
have  done  on  a  large  scale.  I  am  not  sure  after 
all  that  this  is  what  is  most  needed. 

"Model  tenement  houses  and  libraries  are  not 
going  to  save  people  from  selfishness.  There  must 
be  the  tireless,  personal,  face-to-face  and  hand-to- 
hand  work  of  men  and  women  who  have  come  to 
know  themselves  as  their  brothers'  keepers.  In- 
stitutions and  paid  agents  can  never  do  this  work." 

"But  they  can  help  enormously  towards  it," 
I  replied. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mildred  ;  "  they  will  organize 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

and  start  the  work ;  but  then  it  is  all  these  people 
for  whom  I  shall  write  my  suggestions  who  must 
do  the  rest  of  the  work,  and  they  alone  can  make 
it  effective. 

"  Now,  for  instance,  here  is  a  plan  which  Ralph 
and  I  have  just  been  working  out.  It  is  to  help 
save  the  half-grown  boys  and  girls  who  night  after 
night  find  their  chief  delight  in  strolling  arm  in 
arm  through  the  streets,  with  smoking,  and  vulgar 
jests  and  silly  laughter. 

"  You  know  well  enough  what  the  social  dangers 
are  to  underpaid,  giddy-headed  girls  shut  up  all 
day  in  shop  or  factory  and  longing  for  freedom  and 
companionship. 

"  Night  after  night  have  Ralph  and  I  walked  up 
and  down  watching  them,  listening  to  their  silly 
giggles  and  cheap  talk,  noting  their  tawdry  jew- 
elry and  ribbons  and  frowzy  bangs. 

"  How  I  pity  them  !  I  should  so  like  to  make 
life  a  little  better  worth  living  for  them.  Who 
can  blame  them  for  not  wanting,  after  a  hard  day's 
work,  to  stay  in  their  crowded,  noisy  homes  or 
dreary  boarding-house  hall-bedrooms  ? 

"  Everywhere  that  we  have  been  we  have  made 
it  a  practice  to  visit  the  dime  museums  and  cheap 
theatres,  and  to  study  the  amusements  which  these 
young  people  crave !  Everywhere  I  find  it  the 
same. 

"I  used  to  know  in  a  vague  way  about  this 
night-side  of  things,  but  not  until  recently  have  I 
realized  the  awful  temptations  which  are  besetting 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  287 

these  empty-headed  girls  who  have  no  resources  in 
themselves. 

"Free  lectures,  or  concerts,  or  libraries  have 
small  charm  for  such  as  they.  They  want  to  exer- 
cise, to  flirt,  above  all  to  talk  and  laugh  to  their 
heart's  content. 

"  The  churches  do  not  meet  more  than  one  in  a 
hundred  of  such  girls  and  not  more  than  one  in  a 
thousand  of  such  young  men.  They  have  no  desire 
to  spend  an  evening  at  a  prayer-meeting,  they 
would  feel  out  of  place  at  a  church  sociable,  and 
they  are  too  tired  and  unambitious  to  care  for  any 
classes  or  study. 

"  They  want  a  good  time  ;  they  want  '  fun,'  and 
they  have  no  idea  that  it  can  be  found  among 
members  of  their  own  sex  alone.  And  in  this 
their  instinct  is  half  right. 

"  These  young  people  ought  to  exercise  and  have 
4  fun,'  and  they  ought  to  have  it  together. 

"  There  are  various  coffee-rooms  for  temperate 
men,  and  various  girls'  club-rooms  for  girls  alone, 
but,  so  far  as  I  know,  scarcely  a  respectable  place 
in  the  whole  city  where  an  honest,  self-respecting, 
poor  girl  can  go  and  be  able  to  meet  honorable 
young  men,  under  the  protection  of  those  who 
would  see  that  her  natural  instincts  were  gratified 
without  sacrifice  of  her  womanhood. 

"  It  is  just  such  a  place  as  this  that  we  have  de- 
cided to  establish,  a  social  club  for  young  men  and 
women,  where  they  may  laugh  and  talk  to  their 
heart's  content  and  have  plenty  of  innocent  fun." 


288         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  And  fall  in  love  with  each  other  ?  "  I  in- 
quired. 

"  Certainly,"  was  the  reply.  "  Why  not  ?  Does 
not  all  experience  show  it  to  be  impossible  to  purify 
society  by  breaking  natural  instincts  or  ignoring 
them?  Oh,  my  dear,"  continued  Mildred  earnestly, 
"  the  pure  love  of  man  and  woman  should  be  the 
most  blessed  thing  in  life,  and  I  who  know  the  joy 
of  this  love  would  gladly  keep  these  brothers  and 
sisters  of  mine  from  letting  it  be  trodden  in  the 
mire,  or  on  the  other  hand  slip  forever  out  of  their 
lives." 

"  But  how  can  this  be  done  ? "  I  questioned 
skeptically.  "  By  simply  substituting  for  the  side- 
walk a  room  in  which  to  giggle  and  flirt  ?  " 

"  Listen,"  said  Mildred.  "  We  shall  not  begin 
by  building  until  the  experiment  is  assured,  but  we 
have  already  hired  ten  places  in  different  parts 
of  the  city,  where,  with  the  help  of  the  '  King's 
Daughters '  and  the  young  people  of  the  Society  for 
Christian  Endeavor,  we  shall  begin  this  work. 

"  The  first  thing  we  did  was  to  engage  a  kind- 
hearted,  middle-aged  married  woman  to  be  the  re- 
sponsible head  of  each  social  club.  She  is  to  see 
that  pleasant  pictures  are  hung  upon  the  walls,  that 
potted  plants  are  put  into  the  windows,  and  every- 
thing made  homelike  and  cosy  and  in  good  taste. 

"  There  are  to  be  no  printed  rules  and  mottoes 
hung  around  the  wall,  as  if  it  were  an  institution 
and  we  were  trying  to  do  the  people  good.  They 
would  be  suspicious  of  anything  of  that  sort." 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         289 

"  How  many  rooms  have  you  in  each  place  ? " 
I  asked. 

"  Oh,  that  varies,"  answered  Mildred.  "  In 
most  of  them  there  is  a  small  hall  with  waxed  floor 
and  piano  to  be  used  for  dancing  or  singing  classes 
or  debating  clubs.  There  is  another  room  for  gym- 
nastics, with  apparatus  and  a  piano,  where  a  com- 
petent person  will  direct,  and  gradually  insinuate 
various  sensible  ideas  in  regard  to  high  heels,  tight- 
lacing  and  a  bad  carriage,  and  try  to  make  phys- 
ical culture  seem  a  desirable  thing. 

"  There  will  be  another  room  for  quiet  games 
like  checkers  and  dominoes,  several  bathrooms, 
and  a  parlor  where  the  girls  can  bring  their  fancy 
work  and  receive  their  friends." 

"  But,  Mildred,"  I  cried  in  alarm,  "  you  will 
get  a  perfect  mob,  if  you  are  not  careful.  They 
will  bang  your  piano  to  pieces,  they  will  have  rude 
kissing  games,  the  girls  will  waltz  with  men  whom 
they  never  saw  before ;  and  then,  if  you  make  rules 
and  don't  let  them  have  their  own  way,  they  won't 
come.  I  know  the  kind  of  people  whom  you  want 
to  help,  and  they  are  the  most  independent  crea- 
tures living." 

"  Ah,  but  wait  a  minute,"  replied  Mildred  calmly. 
"  The  '  mob  '  are  not  to  be  invited  to  pour  in  from 
the  street.  Each  one  must  apply  for  a  member- 
ship ticket,  give  name  and  address,  and  wait  a  few 
days  before  it  is  granted.  There  may  be,  perhaps, 
a  slight  nominal  fee.  They  will  appreciate  it 
more  to  have  this  little  formality  about  it.  More- 


290          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

over,  the  lady  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  club,  and 
who  will  be  a  person  of  character  and  tact,  will 
have  authority  to  exclude  any  unruly  member. 
Nothing  will  be  said  about  rules.  They  will  be 
received  as  if  they  were  of  course  expected  to  be- 
have well. 

"  Five  or  six  of  the  '  King's  Daughters '  have 
agreed  to  be  in  attendance  every  night,  with  as 
many  gentlemen  who  are  their  escorts.  They  will 
play  for  dancing  and  gymnastics  whenever  it  is 
needed.  They  will  act  as  daughters  of  a  host  and 
receive  and  introduce  their  guests.  They  will  join 
in  the  singing  and  the  games  and  the  conversation, 
and,  with  the  gentlemen  whom  they  bring,  will,  I 
think,  be  far  more  effectual  in  encouraging  good 
manners  than  any  number  of  rules. 

"Now  that  everything  has  been  planned  and 
the  wherewithal  provided,  I  have  had  no  difficulty 
in  getting  some  hundreds  of  agreeable,  well-bred 
young  ladies  from  the  different  churches  who  have 
each  pledged  themselves  to  bring  some  gentleman 
to  assist  them  and  to  give  one  evening  a  week 
faithfully  to  the  social  club. 

"  It  is  distinctly  understood  that  there  is  to  be 
no  authority  exercised  by  them,  no  patronizing 
tolerated,  and  charity,  and  that  other  odious  word 
philanthropy,  not  so  much  as  thought  of. 

"  All  are  to  meet  on  the  same  footing,  simply  as 
young  people  who  are  met  to  have  a  good  time  in 
an  orderly,  pleasant  way. 

"  At  first  there  will  doubtless  be  hoidenish  man- 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         291 

ners,  a  good  deal  of  simpering  and  whispering  and 
flat  talk,  which  of  course  must  be  ignored.  But 
by  and  by  the  presence  of  ten  refined,  Christian 
young  gentlemen  and  ladies  with  tact  and  quick 
wit  will  make  itself  felt.  There  will  be  charades 
and  word  games  like  twenty  questions,  and  a  hun- 
dred such  merry  ways  of  passing  the  time,  of  which 
these  girls  have  never  dreamed.  They  will  go 
home  with  new  ideas  about  dress  and  manners  and 
ways  of  having  a  good  time.  The  veriest  boor, 
who  may  begin  by  tipping  back  in  his  chair  and 
picking  his  teeth,  will  not  fail  to  observe  finally 
that  if  he  wishes  to  retain  the  respect  of  his  '  best 
girl '  his  manners  must  conform  a  little  more  to 
those  of  that  young  law  student  who  spent  half  an 
hour  the  other  night  showing  her  how  to  play  par- 
chesi,  and  then  helped  her  on  with  her  waterproof, 
put  up  her  umbrella  for  her,  and  bowed  her  a 
pleasant  good  evening. 

"  I  assure  you,"  continued  Mildred,  "  I  have  made 
the  discovery  that  the  best  way  to  turn  a  silly  lit- 
tle chit  into  a  self-respecting  woman  is  for  a  gen- 
tleman to  treat  her  as  if  she  were  one.  And  the 
best  way  to  make  a  stupid  clown  appear  at  his  best 
is  for  a  young  lady  of  tact  to  try  to  draw  him  out. 

"  But  this  is  not  all.  There  are  endless  things 
that  such  a  club  might  do. 

"  I  hope  it  will  develop  all  sorts  of  latent  talent 
and  mutual  helpfulness,  and  lead  the  way  to  dis- 
cussion, comparison,  and  emulation  in  a  thousand 
ways. 


292          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  It  will  give  each  member  an  opportunity  to 
make  fifty  acquaintances  where  now  he  or  she  has 
but  one,  —  Protestants  and  Catholics,  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  mechanics,  factory  operatives,  shop-girls, 
bookkeepers,  young  professional  men,  teachers, 
millionaires'  daughters,  all  meeting  on  the  simple 
ground  of  their  youth  and  American  citizenship, 
and  giving  each  other  the  pleasure  of  their  com- 
pany, the  benefit  of  their  experience.  And  the  rich 
will  find  that  they  get  even  more  than  they  give." 

"  But,  after  all,"  I  urged,  "  can  you  make  oil 
and  water  mix  ?  Is  this  a  feasible  scheme  ?  " 

"  That  is  to  say,"  answered  Mildred,  "  can  peo- 
ple of  different  social  rank,  education,  and  employ- 
ments meet  socially  with  mutual  profit  and  pleas- 
ure ?  That,  I  am  convinced,  depends  entirely  upon 
the  tact  and  spirit  of  genuine  friendliness  which 
is  exercised  by  those  of  the  higher  rank. 

"  Anything  that  is  done  perfunctorily  is  sure 
to  fail,  but  genuine  interest  will  create  genuine  in- 
terest. It  all  depends,  you  see,  upon  my  helpers. 
Without  them  my  money  can  do  nothing.  I  can 
only  organize  ;  they  must  execute.  But  I  am  con- 
vinced that  it  is  an  experiment  worth  trying." 

"  So  you  are  contemplating  a  social  revolution," 
said  I,  as  Mildred  paused,  her  cheeks  glowing 
with  the  excitement  of  the  thought.  "  Well,  sister 
mine,  if  ever  one  is  brought  about,  I  think  it  will 
be  by  your  way  of  doing,  by  trying  to  put  the 
right  people  in  the  right  place.  After  all,  I  sup- 
pose this  one  little/  scheme  of  yours  and  Ralph's, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          293 

that  may  help  to  start  thousands  of  lives  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction,  probably  costs  uo  more  to  per- 
manently endow  than  what  some  families  would 
pay  for  diamonds  and  horses  and  yachts  for  them- 
selves alone." 

"  By  the  way,  Ruby,"  asked  Mildred  the  next 
day,  as  we  sat  sipping  our  after-dinner  coffee, 
while  Ralph  had  gone  out  to  see  some  lawyers, 
"do  you  remember  the  first  time  I  saw  you,  a  little 
more  than  a  year  ago,  at  aunt  Madison's  ?  " 

"  Remember  ?  I  wonder  if  I  shall  ever  forget 
it,  or  what  you  said  to  those  three  rich  good-for- 
nothing  "  — 

"  No,"  broke  in  Mildred,  "  not  '  good-for-noth- 
ing,' though  I  fear  I  thought  them  so  at  the  time. 
I  fancy  I  must  have  spoken  pretty  savagely,  did  n't 
I  ?  "  Then,  without  waiting  for  an  answer,  she 
continued :  "  I  felt  sure,  as  I  thought  it  over  after- 
wards, that  they  would  hate  me,  that  is,  if  they 
took  the  trouble  to  think  about  me  at  all.  But, 
do  you  know,  I  think  it  really  startled  them  into 
asking  themselves  some  pretty  plain  questions. 

"  It  set  them  to  thinking,  and  "  —  she  continued 
with  a  laugh  —  "I  verily  believe  that  I  was  in  a 
measure  the  humble  means  of  grace  which  brought 
two  of  them  to  conviction  of  sin  and  led  to  their 
conversion. 

"Let  me  read  to  you  part  of  a  letter  which 
cousin  Will  received  and  which  he  forwarded  to 
me,"  said  she,  drawing  an  envelope  from  her 


294         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

pocket.     "  It  is  from  Ned  Conro,  the  one  with  the 
blond  mustache,  you  remember. 

"He  says, — let  me  see,"  —  and  she  glanced 
down  the  first  page,  and,  turning  the  leaf,  read 
aloud :  — 

"  I  began  for  the  first  time  to  do  a  little  think- 
ing that  last  six  months  at  Cambridge. 

"  Somehow  that  cousin  of  yours  had  said  some- 
thing, that  night  I  was  at  your  house,  which  kept 
running  through  my  head  and  bothered  me  every 
now  and  then.  I  began  to  wonder  if  I  weren't 
about  as  useless  a  lot  as  a  fellow  with  two  millions 
in  his  own  right  and  a  prospective  Harvard  sheep- 
skin ever  gets  to  be. 

"I  had  shirked  all  the  work  that  I  dared  to. 
I  divided  my  time,  as  you  know,  pretty  evenly  be- 
tween the  Boston  Theatre  and  Young's  Hotel.  I 
had  no  incentive  to  work,  and  did  not  propose  to 
follow  in  your  steps  and  study  a  profession.  I 
planned  after  I  left  college  to  go  abroad  for  some 
years.  I  had  some  vague  notion  of  a  trip  to  India 
and  tiger-hunting.  At  all  events  I  meant  to  have 
good  sport  and  plenty  of  it  too. 

"  The  last  thing  I  thought  of  was  giving  up  any 
fun  to  stay  at  home  and  play  the  home  mission- 
ary. But  every  time  I  had  settled  the  matter 
completely  in  my  own  mind,  those  stinging  words 
of  that  girl  would  come  back  and  make  my  ears 
tingle :  — 

" '  Oh,  the   last  thing  that  you  ever  dream  of 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          295 

is  that  you  have  a  debt  to  pay  and  are  basely 
repudiating  it.' 

"  I  had  thought  that  all  poppycock  when  she 
said  it,  but  when  she  got  her  money  and  set  to 
work  practicing  what  she  had  preached,  giving  not 
only  her  money  but  her  whole  time  with  her 
money,  that  just  stumped  me. 

"  One  day  I  took  up  a  New  York  paper  giving 
an  account  of  her  great  library  scheme.  '  There,' 
said  I,  '  Miss  Brewster  has  done  what  no  man  I 
ever  heard  of  would  have  thought  of  doing.' 

"A  man,  now,  would  have  put  up  a  stunning 
ten  -  million  -  dollar  library,  with  his  name  in  gilt 
letters  on  the  front  of  it.  He  would  put  half  of 
the  money  into  the  building  and  half  of  the  re- 
mainder into  rare  books  which  no  one  would  look 
at  once  a  year.  It  would  be  a  grand  thing,  no 
doubt,  but  how  many  people  would  it  reach  com- 
pared with  those  whom  Miss  Brewster' s  little  libra- 
ries will  stimulate  and  help  ? 

"  Why,  a  library  can  change  the  future  of  a 
whole  community !  I  tell  you,  Miss  Brewster  has 
found  where  to  sow  her  seed  so  that  it  will  bring 
forth  a  hundredfold. 

"I  wondered  what  /  could  do.  I  could  throw 
away  my  money  easily  enough,  endow  another  chair 
at  Harvard,  erect  another  statue  to  some  one,  build 
a  hospital ;  but,  after  all,  what  was  I  to  do,  pro- 
vided that  I  did  anything  ? 

"  Well,  one  day  —  it  was  Thursday  afternoon 
—  Mather  said,  '  Conro,  let 's  go  into  chapel  and 


296        MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

hear  Brooks.'  So  we  went.  I  had  n't  been  inside 
the  place  for  months.  My  set,  you  know,  didn't 
go  in  for  that  sort  of  thing  much. 

"  Somehow,  something  Brooks  said  that  after- 
noon stirred  me  up  all  over  again  and  set  me  to 
thinking.  Mather  and  I  did  n't  say  anything  as 
we  came  out,  but  I  knew  he  too  was  thinking. 

"  We  started  off  on  a  walk,  and  after  a  while, 
as  we  tramped  along  down  past  old  John  Harvard's 
statue  and  on  past  the  gymnasium,  he  threw  back 
his  head  and,  clapping  me  on  the  shoulder,  burst 
out, '  I  say,  old  fellow,  that  man  is  a  brick ! ' 

"  We  turned  down  Craigie  Street  and  sauntered 
on.  Presently  John  Fiske  turned  the  corner  and 
nodded  in  a  jolly  way  over  his  glasses  at  us.  '  Did 
you  know,  Conro,'  asked  Mather,  after  we  had 
passed  out  of  hearing,  '  that  Fiske  could  read  fif- 
teen languages,  and  knew  no  end  of  history  and 
everything  else,  and  had  made  his  mark,  before  he 
was  as  old  as  we  are  by  some  years  ? ' 

"  I  did  n't  know  it,  but  I  had  n't  time  to  say 
so  before  I  looked  up  and  saw  just  in  front  of  us 
the  gray  beard  and  brown  eyes  of  the  man  whom 
I,  for  one,  think  to  be  the  greatest  poet  America 
has  ever  had. 

"I  had  just  got  hold  of  Lowell  last  winter. 
Those  lines  of  his  which  Miss  Brewster  quoted 
to  us  had  set  me  to  looking  him  up,  and  I  was 
amazed  to  see  how  little  I  had  known  of  his  power. 

"  Well,  whether  it  was  Miss  Brewster,  or  Phil- 
lips Brooks,  or  these  men,  the  two  best  writers  of 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         297 

English  on  the  continent,  and  the  thought  of  what 
they  had  made  their  lives  mean  in  the  world  of 
ideas,  I  don't  know,  but  suddenly  it  all  came  over 
me,  the  thought  of  earnest  lives  that  stood  for  some- 
thing, and  my  own  confounded  folly,  and  I  broke 
out  for  the  first  time  :  '  I  say,  Mather,  if  a  fellow 
has  been  a  deuced  fool  for  the  first  twenty-two 
years  of  his  life,  what  is  he  likely  to  be  at  the  end 
of  the  next  twenty-two  ? ' 

"  Mather  evidently  did  n't  think  that  was  a 
question  which  required  an  answer,  and  we  tramped 
along  together  in  silence  for  a  while  longer.  Then 
he  began,  '  Conro,  did  n't  what  Brooks  said  to-day 
make  you  think  of  that  night  last  winter  when 
that  black-eyed  girl  over  there  at  Louisburg  Square 
just  laid  us  fellows  out  ? 

"  '  Gracious !  how  she  did  seem  to  take  it  all  to 
heart,  as  if  we  had  committed  the  unpardonable  sin, 
as  Gordon  said.  Whew !  —  did  n't  it  make  him 
mad,  though  ?  —  but  —  well  —  somehow  I  don't 
know  but  she  was  more  than  half  right  after  all. 

" '  Some  things  she  said  have  been  running 
through  my  head  lately :  "  Never  a  time  or  place 
where  heart  and  brains  and  hands  could  find  such 
work  to  do  and  reap  such  far-reaching  results.  .  .  . 
Everything  has  been  done  for  us,  to  be  sure,  but 
we  can't  be  expected  to  go  out  of  our  way  to  see 
that  it  is  passed  along." 

"  Well,  Madison,  that  was  the  beginning  of  it 
all ;  and  then  we  talked,  and  the  long  and  short  of 
it  is,  that  Mather  and  I  did  n't  take  long  in  com- 


298         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

ing  to  the  conclusion  that  if  a  fellow  ever  proposed 
to  make  anything  of  himself,  twenty-two  or  three 
was  n't  any  too  early  to  begin  to  think  about  it. 
We  mulled  over  it  a  while,  until  finally  we  struck 
on  a  scheme. 

"Mather's  mother  had  come  from  the  South. 
and  he  had  some  far-away  cousins  there  who  had 
been  the  hottest  kind  of  rebs.  Perhaps  that  was 
what  suggested  it  to  us ;  but  at  any  rate  we  are  in 
for  it  now,  and  have  given  each  other  our  word  of 
honor  to  stick  to  it  for  three  years  at  least,  and 
then  —  well,  we  shall  see. 

"  I  had  two  millions  and  he  eight  hundred  thou- 
sand. I  have  no  family,  you  know,  and  he  has 
only  married  brothers  and  sisters ;  so  we  are  free  on 
that  score ;  and  we  have  decided  to  put  half  of  our 
fortunes  into  buying  up  enough  stock  in  a  lot  of 
Southern  papers  to  give  us  practical  control  of  the 
country  papers  over  a  large  area  down  here." 

"  He  writes  from  some  little  town  in  Alabama," 
said  Mildred  in  parenthesis.  Then  she  continued : 

"  We  have  brought  with  us  five  or  six  bright 
Harvard  boys  whom  we  know,  and  whom  we  are 
going  to  work  in  as  editors  of  dailies  in  strategic 
places.  Each  fellow  will  also  have  general  super- 
vision of  a  dozen  small  weekly  papers  scattered 
through  the  states  here. 

"  These  papers  form  almost  the  sole  outlook  upon 
the  world's  affairs  which  the  people  down  here  ever 


MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          299 

get,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  locals  with  which 
they  are  padded,  are  about  as  useful  as  Rollins' 
Ancient  History. 

"  Mather  and  I  are  hard  at  work  studying  local 
history  and  politics  and  prejudices,  and  are  plan- 
ning some  of  the  tallest  kinds  of  innovations.  We 
have  n't  shown  our  hand  yet,  of  course,  and  it  is 
generally  understood  that  we  are  here  to  invest  in 
land. 

"  Of  course  we  shan't  make  a  cent  out  of  it  all 

—  too   many  niggers,  and    the  whites   are   fright- 
fully poor  —  can't  pay  for  and  don't  want  anything 
better  than  they  have ;    but,  by  Jove,  if  I  don't 
succeed  in  shaking  up  some  of  these  consummate 
old  Bourbons  down  here  by  the  end  of  the  next 
three  years,  then  my  name  is  n't  Edwin  G.  Conro ! 

—  that 's  all.    However,  they  are  n't  all  such  a  bad 
lot." 

"  Well,"  said  Mildred,  as  she  skimmed  through 
the  last  page  in  silence  and  slowly  returned  the 
letter  to  the  envelope,  "  whether  these  aspiring 
youths  succeed  in  bringing  the  millennium  down 
there  by  the  time  they  are  twenty-five  remains  to 
be  seen,  but  at  all  events  they  will  learn  some 
things  Harvard  College  has  not  yet  taught  them, 
and  whether  they  help  those  people  much  or  not 
they  have  taken  the  first  step  to  save  themselves." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"  MILDRED  BREWSTER  EVERETT,  do  you  mean 
to  say  that  you,  a  woman  worth  your  tens  of  mil- 
lions, are  going  to  come  down  to  living  again  in  a 
brick  block  with  little  narrow  rooms?  Are  you 
going  to  give  up  the  splendid  library,  the  gallery 
of  rare  paintings,  the  grand  music-room,  the  con- 
servatories and  stables,  and  all  the  lovely  things 
that  you  had  planned  ?  " 

Mildred  dropped  her  wax  and  seal,  and  turned 
from  her  writing-desk  with  a  gesture  of  mock 
despair,  as  I  continued,  somewhat  vehemently  and 
without  pausing  for  a  reply  :  — 

"  Have  you  forgotten  all  those  magnificent  halls, 
those  terra-cottas  and  mosaic  floors  and  glorious 
painted  windows  ?  Think  of  the  many  times  that 
we  have  planned  it  all  out,  the  baronial  fireplaces 
with  the  spreading  elk  antlers  overhead,  and  the 
big  tiger-skin  rugs ;  and  then  the  cosy,  cushioned 
window-seats  and  quaintly  carved  lattices,  the  great 
organ  with  golden  pipes,  and  the  high,  wind-swept 
turrets  with  winding  stairs  ! 

"  Last  spring  you  were  planning  to  bring  all 
this  about  when  the  tenement  houses  and  more 
necessary  things  should  be  under  way,  and  now," 
I  continued  crossly,  "  to  think  of  your  fancying 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          301 

that  you  are  too  poor  to  build  a  beautiful  house 
for  yourself,  when  you  have  money  enough  to  buy 
houses  for  every  one  else !  " 

I  think  that  Mildred  had  a  passion  for  noble 
architecture.  Her  keen  eyes  would  detect  beau- 
ties or  incongruities  where  my  untrained  sight  per- 
ceived nothing. 

"  If  a  man  writes  a  bad  poem,  I  am  not  com- 
pelled to  read  it ;  if  he  paints  a  bad  picture,  I  need 
not  see  it  more  than  once,"  she  was  wont  to  say ; 
"  but  if  he  erects  an  ugly  building  in  my  city  he 
hurts  me  every  time  I  walk  the  street,  and  I  am 
helpless." 

"  When  constructive  beauty  costs  no  more  than 
this  fantastic  ugliness,  why  must  such  an  absurdity 
be  inflicted  upon  a  long-suffering  public  ? "  she 
once  asked  in  despair,  as  we  were  contemplating 
an  expensive  monument  to  architectural  stupidity. 
And  she  never  tempered  her  scorn  when  railing  at 
the  angular,  parti-colored  houses,  run  mad  in  the 
direction  of  ostentatious  eccentricities,  which  are 
fast  displacing  the  simple  white  dwellings  with 
green  blinds  that,  as  she  once  declared,  "  at  least 
have  the  merit  of  being  modest  and  wholesome, 
and  do  not  outrage  all  one's  sense  of  the  fitness  of 
things." 

"  Wait  until  I  build  my  house  ;  then  you  shall 
see,"  she  would  exclaim,  with  a  decided  little  nod 
which  carried  the  conviction,  to  one  listener  at 
least,  that  she  would  some  time  show  what  money 
and  brains  combined  could  do  towards  creating  an 
ideal  home. 


302         MEMOIRS  OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

Many  an  hour,  when  driving  about  together,  we 
had  amused  ourselves,  in  the  intervals  of  serious 
work,  in  planning  the  charming  mansion  which  she 
would  build,  and  she  had  entered  into  it  all  with 
great  zest. 

"  My  idea  of  a  house,"  she  had  said,  "  is  to  have 
it  even  more  beautiful  without  than  within,  so  that 
every  line  may  be  a  positive  delight  to  the  many 
who  can  never  look  within  its  doors.  Think  what 
a  boon  to  the  thousands  who  never  step  inside  a 
church  are  those  Back  Bay  towers  and  steeples 
which  I  used  to  see  from  my  attic  window  on  the 
hill. 

"  A  poor  man  has  no  money  for  a  concert  of 
good  music  ;  he  has  no  time  for  a  visit  to  an  art 
museum  to  see  a  good  picture  or  statue,  or  to  go 
to  a  library  to  read  a  great  poem  ;  but  in  sunlight 
and  in  moonlight,  seven  days  in  the  week,  as  he 
looks  from  his  window  or  passes  to  his  work,  the 
beauty  wrought  in  stone  is  his ;  it  costs  him  neither 
time  nor  money,  and  consciously  or  unconsciously 
it  appeals  to  him.  His  life  is  larger  and  richer 
for  it. 

"  A  walk  across  the  Public  Garden  on  a  winter 
afternoon,  with  that  campanile  and  the  spires  near 
it  looming  large  and  dark  against  the  crimson 
glow  in  the  west,  has  made  me  fresh  and  strong 
after  many  a  tired  day,"  she  used  to  say. 

So  it  was  settled  that  when  the  walls  of  the 
House  Beautiful  should  be  reared,  the  first  thought 
should  be,  not  for  its  inmates,  but  for  the  countless 
unknown  passers-by. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          303 

Then  the  next  requirement  was  that  it  should 
have  ample  room  for  the  many  guests  whom  its 
hospitable  mistress  would  always  have  around  her. 
There  was  to  be  air  and  sunshine  everywhere,  and 
nothing  too  fine  for  constant  use. 

Unlike  most  women,  Mildred  had  little  fancy 
for  beauty  of  the  fragile  sort.  Exquisitely  painted 
sevres  which  a  careless  touch  might  shiver  to 
atoms  ;  cobweb  lace  that  had  cost  the  eyesight  and 
health  of  other  women  ;  tapestry  which  had  swal- 
lowed up  years  of  another's  life,  only  to  be  infe- 
rior to  a  painting,  and  become  food  for  moths,  — 
all  this  she  obstinately  refused  to  have. 

"  I  want  beautiful  things  about  me,"  she  said ; 
"  but  beauty  that  is  so  perishable  as  to  be  a  con- 
stant care  to  the  owner,  or  else  to  entail  an  army 
of  servants,  is  a  luxury  which  I  think  no  rational 
being  can  afford.  I  shall  have  everything  rich  and 
strong  and  yet  simple ;  there  shall  be  no  satin, 
gilded  -  legged  chairs,  no  elaborate  dust  -  catching 
carvings ;  no  draperies  and  carpets  that  cannot 
bear  the  sun ;  but  there  shall  be  noble  statues, 
pictures  by  great  masters,  luxurious  rugs  and 
divans,  glorious  color  from  jewelled  windows  and 
precious,  many-hued  marbles.  I  do  not  want  a 
palace  with  dreary  suites  of  high-studded  rooms 
and  frescoed  ceilings,  and  I  do  not  want  a  house 
that  is  nothing  but  a  crowded  museum  of  bric-a- 
brac,  like  so  many  I  see.  No ;  my  house  shall  be 
a  stately  mansion  with  far-seeing  towers  and  tur- 
rets, with  cosy,  low-studded  rooms  and  wainscoted 


304          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

walls,  with  pillared  arcades  and  richly  carved  stone 
balconies.  All  Spain  and  Venice  and  Nuremberg 
shall  be  studied  for  hints  of  beauty,  and  it  shall 
be  a  home,  a  perfectly  ideal  American  home  ;  beau- 
tiful without  and  within  ;  built  to  stand  while  gen- 
erations come  and  go,  graced  by  children,  pets,  and 
flowers,  and  the  charming  society  of  noble  men 
and  women." 

Where  this  home  was  to  be  built  had  not  yet  been 
decided.  Sometimes  Mildred  would  in  imagination 
place  it  on  some  smooth,  green  slope  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson ;  sometimes  among  the  elms  on  some 
hilltop  overlooking  the  golden  dome  on  Beacon 
Hill,  with  a  glimpse  of  blue  sea  and  white  sails  on 
the  far  horizon  beyond. 

Of  course  I  was  to  have  the  fun  of  helping  to 
plan  about  it  all,  and  Mildred  was  to  bring  home 
hosts  of  treasures  from  Europe  after  her  sojourn 
abroad.  But  now,  this  morning,  all  this  dream  of 
the  beauty  that  was  to  be  had  been  ended  by  what 
Mildred  had  been  saying. 

"I  have  settled  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
on  Ralph,"  she  had  said,  "for  his  own  personal 
use.  He  would  not  accept  any  more,  and  I  have 
decided  to  set  apart  for  myself  the  same  sum.  The 
interest  on  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  ought,  I 
think,  to  provide  all  the  travel  and  luxuries  that 
two  reasonable  mortals  need ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
money  which  I  had  at  first  thought  of  spending  on 
myself  we  are  going  to  devote  to  several  things, 
rather  better  worth  doing  than  building  a  house, 


MEMOIRS    OF  A    MILLIONAIRE.          305 

which  not  one  in  a  hundred  thousand  could  afford 
to  maintain  after  we  have  gone." 

"  But,  Mildred,"  I  expostulated,  "  you  have  al- 
ways asserted  that  it  was  right  to  encourage  art ; 
that  it  was  folly  to  refuse  to  buy  a  picture  or  a 
jewel  just  because  there  were  still  starving  people 
in  existence  somewhere.  I  have  heard  you  say 
repeatedly  that  money  thus  spent  gave  employment 
to  labor,  encouraged  art,  and  "  — 

"  Yes,"  she  interrupted,  "  that  is  true  in  a  cer- 
tain way,  no  doubt ;  but  listen :  I  have  been  think- 
ing this  over  a  great  deal  of  late.  Suppose  now 
that  I  spend  half  a  million  or  so  in  employing  a 
certain  number  of  people  to  make  and  furnish  a 
magnificent  house.  Grant  that  it  is  a  real  work 
of  art,  and  will  be  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy 
forever.  My  husband  and  a  score  of  friends  and 
I  enjoy  it ;  the  workmen  are  paid ;  '  art  is  en- 
couraged.' 

"  Now  suppose  again  that,  instead  of  erecting  an 
expensively  beautiful  house  for  myself,  I  employ 
the  same  number  of  people  to  provide  a  beautiful 
building  which  shall  be  for  the  use,  in  the  course 
of  its  existence,  of  scores  of  thousands  whose  eyes 
are  inured  to  ugliness  and  into  whose  lives  a  bit  of 
beauty  rarely  comes. 

"Suppose  that  the  spacious  marble  staircases, 
the  tiles  and  wood  carvings  and-  painted  windows, 
are  put  where  they  shall  awaken  the  imagination 
and  delight  the  soul  of  tired  mothers  and  little 
children  who  have  known  nothing  beyond  their 


306         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

narrow  alley  and  grimy  chimney-pots ;  of  girls  who 
stand  all  day  before  a  machine,  or  over  a  hot 
stove,  and  who  spend  their  money  for  the  bits  of 
tawdry  finery  which  are  the  nearest  approach  to 
beauty  that  their  means  can  compass  ?  Which 
building  would  encourage  art  the  most,  think  you  ? 

"  Why,  Ruby,"  said  Mildred,  wheeling  around 
from  her  desk,  while  I  stood  opposing  to  her  ardor 
a  face  of  grim  discontent ;  "  do  you  fancy  that  I 
could  sit  in  my  great,  palatial  house,  remembering 
the  sights  that  I  have  seen  this  year  in  the  one- 
roomed  sod  houses  on  bleak  Western  prairies,  in 
the  dingy,  cheerless  cabins  of  the  colored  people  at 
the  South,  and  in  the  vile-smelling  tenements  of 
this  great  city,  and  satisfy  my  soul  by  saying  that 
I  gave  employment  to  the  men  who  did  this  work 
for  me  ? 

"  Could  I  honestly  call  myself  in  any  sense  a  fol- 
lower of  Him  who  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head, 
and  know  that  this  wealth  of  beauty  was  kept  for 
me  and  a  dozen  or  so  cultivated  people  who  need 
it  scarcely  more  than  I,  while  a  thousand  beauty- 
loving  natures  were  starving  who  might  be  fed  by 
my  superabundance  ?  " 

"Mildred,  you  are  positively  morbid,"  I  ex- 
claimed, thoroughly  vexed.  "  To  be  sure,  no  one 
has  a  right  to  be  selfish,  to  think  of  himself  first, 
—  but  that  you  have  not  done.  You  planned  your 
house  in  the  beginning  for  the  pleasure  of  others 
far  more  than  for  yourself.  You  meant  to  make 
your  home  a  perfect  retreat  for  all  the  poor  artists 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          307 

and  students  and  broken-down  teachers  that  it 
could  hold,  and  I  say  you  are  making  a  great  mis- 
take if  you  think  that  you  are  going  to  serve  hu- 
manity better  by  building  a  big  art  museum  down 
at  the  Mulberry  Bend  for  the  benefit  of  the  rag- 
pickers and  stevedores,  than  by  giving  the  hospi- 
tality of  such  a  home  as  yours  would  be  to  those  to 
whom  it  would  be  a  rest  and  an  inspiration." 

Mildred  laughed  heartily  as  I  paused,  and  drop- 
ping upon  the  hassock  beside  me,  she  drew  me 
close  to  her,  while  I  prepared  to  renew  my  ex- 
postulations. 

"  Not  so  fast,  my  dear,"  she  said,  forestalling 
me.  "  Pray  don't  imagine  that  I  am  bereft  of  my 
senses,  and  propose  to  reform  the  slums  by  giving 
them  free  access  to  a  gallery  of  casts  from  the 
antique.  It  would  require  a  small  army  of  police- 
men and  scrubbing-women  to  preserve  it  in  decent 
condition,  if  the  rabble  were  admitted  indiscrimi- 
nately, and  I  do  not  propose  to  give  people  that 
form  of  beauty  which  they  do  not  want  and  could 
not  possibly  appreciate." 

"  But  you  blame  all  the  rich,  who,  no  matter 
how  much  they  may  give  away,  still  reserve  enough 
to  buy  steam  yachts  and  build  fine  houses  and 
indulge  their  aesthetic  tastes  to  the  extent  of  one 
thirtieth  of  their  fortune,"  I  said  pettishly. 

"  No,"  said  Mildred,  slowly  ;  "  I  do  not  blame 
them.  I  am  not  their  judge.  I  cannot  speak  for 
others :  it  is  right,  more  than  that,  it  is  necessary, 
that  man  should  create  beauty,  for  he  cannot  live 
by  bread  alone. 


308         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

"  But  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  beauty 
should  be  for  all ;  should  be  where  all  may  see  and 
enjoy  it.  The  old  Greeks  were  right  about  that, 
when  the  temples,  the  agora,  the  gymnasia  were 
consecrated  to  beauty,  and  it  was  the  glory  of  the 
rich  to  minister  to  the  state  and  not  spend  lavish 
sums  in  collecting  private  treasures. 

"  No,  dear.  Once  I  thought  to  have  all  that  was 
rich  and  fine,  and  that  could  delight  the  eye, 
around  me  in  my  own  home.  I  felt  that  I  had  a 
right  to  it,  provided  that  I  thought  of  others  first 
and  most.  But  now  I  see  things  differently.  I 
wonder  that  I  ever  could  have  been  so  selfish. 

"  Yes,  Ruby,"  she  added,  almost  sternly,  as  she 
saw  my  look  of  protest,  "  it  was  selfishness.  I 
meant,  in  spite  of  all  my  giving,  to  sacrifice  noth- 
ing. But  I  have  been  trying  these  last  few  months, 
—  yes,  since  that  time  last  summer  when  my  power 
to.  make  life  better  for  others  seemed  about  to  be 
forever  taken  from  me,  —  I  have  been  trying,  and 
Ralph  has  helped  me,  oh,  so  much,  to  look  at  all 
this  short  life  of  ours  in  its  beginning  here  on  this 
little  planet,  as  I  shall  look  back  upon  it  with  the 
eyes  of  eternity,  when  it  has  all  gone  into  the  irrev- 
ocable past.  How  will  it  seem  then,  little  sister, 
when  all  our  foolish  ambitions  and  traditions  and 
false  social  standards  have  been  swept  away  ? 
Shall  I  be  glad  or  sorry  then,  do  you  think,  to  re- 
member that  the  one  talent  which  was  placed  in 
my  hands  was  used  to  its  utmost,  that  nothing 
was  withheld  but  what  was  needed  to  make  me  the 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE,         309 

better  fitted  for  my  work  ?  Ah,  when  my  naked 
soul  shall  stand  before  the  judgment  bar  of  its  own 
conscience  and  the  moral  law,  and  hears  the  sen- 
tence, '  This  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
have  left  the  other  undone,'  what  shall  I  plead  in 
excuse  ?  " 

Mildred's  voice  had  sunk  almost  to  a  whisper, 
and  her  eyes  were  filled  with  unshed  tears.  We 
did  not  speak  for  a  few  moments.  I  felt  a  lump 
rising  in  my  throat  and  could  only  choke  it  down 
while  I  stroked  the  dear  head  that  lay  warm 
against  my  arm.  My  foolish  questionings  were 
stilled.  The  clear  insight  of  this  simple,  true- 
hearted  woman  had  pierced  through  and  through 
my  flimsy  protests,  and  I  sat  awed  and  abashed. 
Presently  she  went  on  in  her  natural,  common- 
sense  way  to  explain  more  definitely  what  she 
meant. 

"  I  mean  to  make  a  little  more  beauty  in  this 
world,  if  I  can,"  she  said,  "  and  accomplish  some 
more  important  things  as  well ;  but  the  art  of  all 
arts  which  I  shall  try  to  learn  and  teach  is  the  one 
which  we  Americans  most  need  to  study,  the  art 
of  simple  living. 

"  I  shall  have  the  pictures  and  the  books,  the 
statues  and  the  music  that  I  love  ;  but  what  mat- 
ters it  whether  they  are  all  in  my  own  home  or 
not,  or  whether  or  not  I  seek  them  in  galleries 
open  to  all  alike  ?  Not  until  our  glaring,  stony 
streets  are  made  less  dreaiy  by  more  trees  and 
fountains  and  statues,  not  until  there  is  a  little 


310         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

beauty  for  every  one,  can  I  claim  the  moral  right  to 
spend  a  fortune  on  Meissoniers  or  ancient  Satsuma, 
for  my  own  private  delight. 

"  For  a  long  time  I  have  been  thinking  of  what 
could  bring  the  greatest  stimulus  and  joy  into  the 
lives  of  the  wretched  poor  in  our  great  city  ;  the 
washerwomen  and  truckmen  and  foul  -  mouthed, 
dirty  little  street  gamins  whose  highest  bliss  is 
reached  with  the  attainment  of  a  full  stomach  and 
the  sight  of  a  street  fight  or  a  circus  procession. 
It  would  be  folly  to  give  them  money  outright ;  but 
here  in  amusements,  just  as  I  have  found  it  in 
regard  to  tenement  houses  and  everything  else, 
cooperation  is  the  key  to  success. 

"  The  gift  of  a  Peabody  Museum  or  a  Hemen- 
way  Gymnasium  does  not  offend  the  pride  or  help 
to  pauperize  the  Harvard  student,  nor  do  the 
Lowell  lectures  make  the  most  cultivated  people  of 
Boston  count  themselves  recipients  of  charity  when 
they  crowd  the  hall  to  hear  Professor  Morse  talk 
about  Japanese  pottery,  or  the  Englishman  Haweis 
discourse  on  music.  Money  given  like  that,  in  a 
large  way,  in  the  enjoyment  of  which  all  unite, 
never  does  the  harm  that  the  gift  to  the  individual 
would  surely  do. 

"Now,  I  propose  to  set  up  a  counter-attraction 
to  the  delights  of  the  saloon  and  the  dance-hall  and 
the  street ;  and  I  shall  put  it  right  where  it  is  most 
needed.  There  shall  be  one  substantial,  clean, 
beautiful  building,  a  beacon  light  of  beauty  and 
delight  in  a  square  mile  of  dinginess  and  discom- 
fort. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.          311 

"  It  shall  be  of  brick,  and  I  shall  enjoin  upon 
my  architect  to  show  what  beautiful  lines  and 
arches  can  be  wrought  in  simple  material.  In  a 
street  of  ugly  straight  lines  and  right  angles,  this 
shall  stand  as  an  object-lesson  in  the  power  of 
creating  perpetual  pleasure  to  the  eye  by  such 
simple  devices  as  the  substitution  of  the  curve  for 
the  straight  line  over  door  and  window. 

"  Then  within  there  shall  be  a  dozen  immense 
rooms  connected  by  folding-doors,  with  sand  heaps 
and  swings  and  blocks  for  the  delight  of  the  gutter 
child,  too  old  to  be  in  the  cradle  and  too  young  to 
be  in  school.  From  morning  until  night,  if  he  be- 
haves himself,  he  shall  be  sheltered  and  warm  and 
happy  under  the  charge  of  some  good  woman.  At 
night  these  rooms  shall  be  filled  with  older  boys 
and  girls  learning  the  use  of  tools,  sawing,  plan- 
ing, hammering,  and  finding  it  better  fun  to  vent 
their  energies  in  manufacturing  something  which 
they  can  take  home  for  their  own  use  than  in 
playing  tag  around  the  ash-barrels  on  the  corner." 

"  What,  would  you  have  boys  and  girls  to- 
gether ?  "  I  asked. 

*'  Certainly,"  said  Mildred  ;  "  they  would  be  to- 
gether on  the  street,  and  why  not  here  ?  " 

"But  what  is  the  use  of  a  girl  learning  car- 
pentering ?  "  I  asked.  "  I  should  think  she  might 
much  better  learn  sewing.  Besides,  girls  can't  do 
it,  and  I  don't  believe  they  would  like  to,  if  they 
could." 

"  In  regard  to  that,  you  don't  know  those  girls 


312         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

so  well  as  I  do.  They  will  sit  by  a  smoky  lamp  in 
a  close  room  and  grow  round-shouldered  and  near- 
sighted in  crocheting  edging  and  working  blue 
cats  on  cardboard  ;  but  as  to  plain  sewing,  they 
think  it  a  bore.  After  a  day  at  school  or  in  the 
shop  they  don't  want  to  sit  demurely  on  a  bench 
and  '  backstitch  '  and  sew  '  over  and  over.'  Then, 
too,  a  course  in  carpentry  would  do  more  for 
them  physically  than  a  course  at  the  gymnasium. 
There  is  no  danger  that  city  girls  will  not  walk 
enough  at  all  times ;  what  they  lack  is  development 
of  arms  and  chest.  Moreover,  this  is  not  an  ex- 
periment. I  once  visited  a  summer  class  in  carpen- 
tering for  girls  at  the  Tennyson  Street  school  in 
Boston,  and  I  can  assure  you  I  have  n't  forgotten 
the  neat  book-raeks  and  little  tables  those  girls  of 
fourteen  were  making  for  themselves,  nor  the  good 
time  they  were  having  in  doing  it,  either.  Such 
muscle  as  they  were  developing !  However,  there 
can  be  cooking  classes  and  sewing  classes  too,  if 
they  want  them,  though  my  House  Beautiful  is  not 
to  be  primarily  a  manual  training  school.  The 
city  may  provide  that  for  the  child ;  but  I  want  to 
do  what  it  cannot  do,  and  that  is  to  give  innocent 
amusement  and  a  bit  of  beauty  to  lives  that  know 
nothing  of  it. 

"  So  above  these  rooms  is  to  be  a  great  audi- 
torium arranged  like  an  amphitheatre,  and  capable 
of  seating  comfortably  three  thousand  people. 
There  shall  be  no  cushions,  and  no  need  of  them, 
for  every  seat  shall  be  planned  with  reference  to 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         313 

the  human  figure,  and  will  require  no  padding  to 
insure  absolute  comfort. 

"  There  shall  be  a  golden  -  piped  organ  and 
'  storied  windows  richly  dight,'  not  casting  a  '  dim 
religious  light,'  but  shedding  warm,  rich  color  upon 
the  thousand  shabby  coats  and  shawls  gathered 
from  the  alleys  and  street  corners  of  a  Sunday 
afternoon.  Every  night  in  the  week,  and  all  day 
on  Sunday,  this  is  to  be  opened  free  to  jsvery  man 
or  woman  who  wants  to  sit  in  a  comfortable  seat, 
see  interesting  pictures,  hear  sweet  music,  and  give 
tired  nerves  and  body  a  respite  from  the  noise  and 
confusion  of  the  tenement  and  street." 

"  And  what  do  you  propose  to  give  them,  — 
symphony  concerts,  or  Stoddard  lectures  ?  " 

"Neither,"  answered  Mildred  calmly,  ignoring 
my  attempt  at  sarcasm,  "  though  you  have  touched 
my  idea.  I  mean  to  give  them  something  as  nearly 
like  it  as  possible. 

"  There  shall  be  simple  talks  on  every  conceiv- 
able subject  that  could  interest  them  which  admits 
of  illustration  by  the  stereopticon.  By  the  aid  of 
great  pictures  thrown  upon  the  screen  they  shall 
travel  over  land  and  sea.  Then  there  shall  be 
story  nights,  when  a  clear-voiced  student  from  the 
school  of  oratory  will  read  stories  to  them.  Think 
what  it  would  be  to  these  men  and  women,  half  of 
whom  cannot  read  or  write,  to  whose  minds  the 
facts  of  history  and  geography  have  no  meaning, 
whose  knowledge  of  life  is  limited  to  a  little  vil- 
lage in  the  Old  Country,  a  steerage  passage,  and  the 


314        MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

crowded  slums  of  New  York  ;  think  what  it  would 
be  to  them  to  step  from  the  cold  and  dinginess 
without  into  a  brilliant,  beautiful  hall,  with  warmth 
and  light  and  comfort  insured  for  one  hour  at  least 
out  of  the  twenty-four ;  and  then  to  sit  and  listen 
to  the  charming  story  of  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy, 
or  Robinson  Crusoe,  or  to  thrilling  stories  of  ex- 
ploration and  adventures. 

"  The  story  or  lecture  shall  last  no  more  than 
an  hour,  as  their  attention  must  be  held,  so  that 
they  will  want  to  conie  again.  Then  those  who 
have  heard  enough  may  go,  if  they  wish,  and  make 
room  for  others  to  come  in  to  listen  to  a  half-hour 
concert.  There  will  be  no  Brahm's  symphonies, 
but  there  will  be  cornet  solos  of  such  classics  as 
the  'Swanee  River,'  and  '  Home  !  Sweet  Home  ! ' 
and  a  select  orchestra  of  half  a  dozen  pieces  will 
render  Strauss  waltzes,  airs  from  '  Pinafore,'  and 
the  like. 

"On  Sunday,  all  day  long,  there  shall  be  ser- 
vices of  song  led  by  the  great  organ  and  a  trained 
chorus.  Not  oratorio  music,  though  a  Handel 
Largo  or  a  '  Lift  Thine  Eyes  '  might  sometimes  be 
ventured  on ;  but  simple  devout  church  music,  in 
which  all  who  can  may  join. 

"  Of  course  no  preaching  would  be  advisable, 
else  the  priests  would  rapidly  diminish  the  audi- 
ence ;  but  all  the  power  of  music  shall  be  brought 
to  bear  to  uplift  and  beautify  these  poor,  pinched 
lives  and  bring  a  glimpse  of  sweetness  and  light 
into  the  prosaic  details  of  their  daily  struggle  for 
existence. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         315 

"The  Romish  church  has  always  been  wise 
enough  to  see  the  power  of  music  in  swaying  the 
emotions  of  the  masses.  It  is  time  that  we  learned 
a  lesson  from  it." 

"  What  shall  you  do  with  your  other  rooms  on 
Sunday  ?  Shall  you  let  them  be  vacant  or  permit 
the  carpentering  by  the  boys  to  go  on  below,  while 
their  elders  are  hearing  the  music  in  the  great 
haU  above?" 

"  Neither,"  answered  Mildred.  "  The  rooms  shall 
all  be  open,  but  not  for  work.  The  tables  and 
tools  will  have  disappeared,  and  settees  will  take 
their  places.  In  one  room  will  be  perhaps  a  debat- 
ing club  of  young  men,  discussing  the  last  strike, 
and  finding  this  a  pleasanter  place  to  meet  for  that 
purpose  than  the  street  corner  or  the  saloon.  In  the 
next  room  will  be  a  set  of  children  clustered  around 
a  young  lady  who  comes  down  from  Fifth  Avenue 
and  gives  her  Sunday  evenings  regularly  to  telling 
stories  to  them.  She  is  not  a  creature  of  my  im- 
agination, either,  Ruby.  Last  week  I  met  her  at 
a  friend's  house.  She  came  in  flushed  and  radiant 
from  an  hour's  romp  with  the  children  in  the  nurs- 
ery. '  I  believe  my  one  talent  must  be  story-tell- 
ing,' she  said,  as  the  children  appeared  on  the 
scene  clamoring  after  her ;  and  her  mother  fondly 
said,  '  Ah,  there  are  no  stories  like  sister  Helen's, 
all  the  children  think.' 

" '  So,'  I  thought,  '  that  is  just  the  girl  I  want. 
Her  talent  shall  find  a  larger  field  for  develop- 
ment ;  she  shall  tell  stories  to  forty  children  instead 


316         MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

of  four.'  I  told  her  my  plan,  and  she  almost  cried 
with  delight.  '  Oh,  Mrs.  Everett,  do  you  really 
think  that  I  could  do  any  good  in  that  way  ?  I 
never  dreamed  of  it,  and  I  should  be  so  glad.  I  've 
always  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  do  something,  but 
mamma  won't  let  me  visit  in  the  Charities.  She 
says  I  am  too  young.  My  eyes  won't  admit  of  my 
reading  to  the  blind  or  sewing  for  the  poor,  and 
I  began  to  think  there  was  n't  anything  that  I 
could  do.' 

"  I  tell  you,  Ruby,  I  am  finding  every  day  dozens 
of  girls  like  her,  who  are  only  waiting  for  some 
one  to  say,  '  This  is  what  you  can  do ;  here  is  your 
work ;  here  is  the  place  ;  and  here  are  the  ones 
who  need  you.'  I  am  beginning  to  learn  that  the 
putting  of  the  right  person  in  the  right  place  is 
the  main  thing,  after  all.  The  best  thing  that  my 
money  can  do  is  to  make  it  possible  for  those  who 
can  give,  to  find  those  who  need  just  what  they  can 
give. 

"  I  shall  find  not  only  one  charming  story-teller, 
but  a  score,  who  will  meet  their  circles  of  little 
street  Arabs  week  after  week  and  month  after 
month,  and  if  they  are  half  as  pretty  and  entertain- 
ing as  the  girl  I  know,  you  may  rest  assured  those 
youngsters  will  count  it  a  privilege  to  come. 

"  Not  every  one  will  be  admitted ;  a  clean  face 
and  hands  and  good  behavior  will  be  the  prere- 
quisite for  retaining  the  ticket  of  membership  to 
all  the  classes.  Then  in  another  room  will  be  a  class 
of  young  people  listening  to  an  emergency  lecture, 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         317 

given  by  some  bright,  young  medical  student,  who 
will  arouse  their  interest  by  objective  illustrations, 
such  as  the  bandaging  of  sham  wounds  and  the 
resuscitating  of  a  person  supposed  to  be  drowned. 

"  In  still  another  room,  perhaps,  some  one  will 
be  reading  the  newspapers  aloud  to  a  score  of  men 
who  are  enjoying  their  pipes. 

"  All  the  rooms  will  be  filled  with  men,  women, 
and  children,  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning 
until  ten  at  night ;  one  set  coming  as  another  goes  ; 
and  each  having  one  hour  at  least,  in  the  day  of 
rest,  which  shall  open  to  him  a  little  larger  outlook 
on  life,  and  shall  give  him  something  to  look  for- 
ward to  through  the  six  days  of  drudgery. 

"  Of  course  all  this  will  require  a  system  and  a 
plan ;  but  I  shall  have  as  few  officials  and  as  few 
restraints  as  possible.  A  neat,  white-capped  wo- 
man, with  her  badge  of  authority,  will,  I  think, 
be  quite  as  efficient  as  a  big  policeman ;  for  any 
unseemly  behavior  will  result  in  the  immediate 
surrender  of  the  numbered  metal  check  which  will 
serve  as  a  card  of  entrance  ;  and  when  admission 
is  recognized  as  a  privilege  it  will  be  coveted. 

"  No  one  will  stay  away  because  he  is  too  shabby 
to  come,  and  no  one  will  be  made  to  feel  that  he 
has  no  right  or  share  in  it  all ;  but  every  week 
twenty -five  thousand  men,  women,  and  children 
shall  have  one  or  two  hours  of  peace  and  happi- 
ness offered  them,  just  because,  —  tliink  of  it, 
Ruby,  —  just  because  I  did  not  build  the  House 
Beautiful  for  myself." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  And  whether  we  shall  meet  again  I  know  not, 
Therefore  our  everlasting  farewell  take." 

JULIUS 

THE  days  sped  away  all  too  fast,  crowded  full 
of  work  and  talk  and  earnest  thought.  I  entered 
eagerly  into  all  of  Mildred's  plans ;  she  always 
knew  that  she  could  rely  on  me  to  do  that,  in  spite 
of  the  protestations  and  objections  with  which  I 
generally  greeted  the  first  announcement  of  each 
new  scheme.  I  think  she  rather  liked  my  object- 
ing, as  it  gave  her  so  fine  an  opportunity  to  state 
her  case  clearly  and  triumph  over  all  obstacles. 

"  Do  be  charitable  and  indulge  my  garrulous 
propensities  a  little,"  she  would  laughingly  plead. 
"You  may  congratulate  yourself  that  I  was  not 
born  a  man,  —  such  a  stump  orator  as  I  should 
have  made,  with  all  my  hobbies !  " 

In  spite  of  her  gayety  and  happiness,  however,  I 
could  see  that  the  strain  of  attending  to  multitudes 
of  things  was  beginning  to  tell,  even  on  her  ap- 
parently boundless  strength.  The  day  before  the 
last  she  was  with  her  lawyers,  signing  last  papers, 
seeing  that  nothing  was  neglected,  no  one  forgotten. 
In  the  evening  there  was  a  farewell  reception  for 
hosts  of  friends,  at  which  all  good-byes  were  said. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         319 

"  I  want  no  one  but  you  to  see  me  sail,  Ruby 
dear,"  she  said  ;  and  so  the  hour  of  her  departure 
was  not  announced.  They  had  planned,  first  of  all, 
a  sailing  voyage  to  the  West  Indies,  and  thence 
they  were  to  go  to  Spain. 

"  I  can't  bear  Europe  just  yet,"  said  Mildred. 
"  I  want  to  put  letters,  despatches,  and  newspapers 
even,  out  of  reach  for  a  few  weeks  ;  to  forget  immi- 
grants, cooking  schools,  tenement  houses,  libraries, 
and  lawyers,  and  all  the  several  problems  that  have 
been  besetting  me  these  last  bewilderingly  busy 
months. 

"  I  must  get  time  to  stop  and  think.  I  want  to 
sail  idly  through  purple  tropic  seas  ;  to  skirt  the 
green  shores  of  volcanic  islands ;  I  want  to  feel  for 
the  time  being  that  I  have  banished  conscience  and 
responsibility ;  in  fact,"  she  added,  laughing,  "  I 
want  to  become  a  pagan  for  a  while,  if  I  can." 

"  The  most  sensible  thing  that  I  ever  heard  you 
say,"  I  remarked  with  decision.  "  If  there  ever 
was  a  girl  who  has  earned  a  vacation,  it  is  you." 

They  were  going  on  the  Nanepashemet,  manned 
by  Captain  Roberts,  a  weather-beaten  seaman  of 
Marblehead,  who  twenty  years  ago  had  dandled 
the  little  Mildred  on  his  knee.  He  now  counted 
it  the  greatest  honor  of  his  life  that  she  had  not 
forgotten  him,  and  that  he  had  been  invited  to  take 
this  bonny  bride  on  his  plain  little  sailing  vessel. 

"Why,  jest  think  of  it,  Miss,"  he  proudly  re- 
marked to  me,  "  she  might  jest  as  easy  hev  bought 
one  of  them  crack  steam  yachts  with  fancy  fixins, 


320          MEMOIRS   OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

and  have  gone  in  reg'lar  Vanderbilt  style.  But 
it's  jest  like  her,  jest  like  her.  She  wa'n't  never 
one  of  the  kind  to  make  a  splurge.  I  knew  when 
she  got  her  money  'twould  n't  turn  her  head." 

One  day  Ralph  and  I  had  been  down  to  inspect 
the  craft  and  attend  to  certain  alterations  in  the 
cabin  which  were  to  be  made  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  two  passengers,  when  the  captain  grew 
quite  communicative  on  his  favorite  theme. 

"  I  knew  that  little  chick  'ud  make  something 
when  she  wa'n't  no  higher  than  that,"  he  re- 
marked, holding  his  brown,  tattooed  hand  about 
three  feet  above  the  deck. 

"  I  did  n't  cal'late  on  her  turnin'  out  so  mighty 
rich,  of  course,"  he  continued,  meditatively,  lean- 
ing against  the  rail  and  evidently  pleased  to  find 
an  appreciative  listener,  "  but  I  allus  knew,  by  the 
way  the  little  thing  kep'  askin'  questions  about 
everything  under  heaven,  that  she  'd  got  a  head- 
piece on  her  that  'ud  make  things  spin  one  o'  these 
days.  Full  o'  fun,  too.  She  could  swim  like  a 
duck,  and  row  a  boat  with  them  little  pipe-stem 
arms  of  hers,  and  yet  —  wal  —  she  was  sort  o' 
pious-like  too,  and  allus  askin'  me  to  tell  her  about 
my  trips  to  the  East  Injies,  and  whether  I  see  any 
women  a-throwin'  their  babies  to  crocodiles  and 
a-bowin'  down  to  idols  of  wood  and  stone. 

"  '  I  tell  you,  Cap'n  Roberts,'  that  little  thing  'ud 
say,  a-settin'  there  in  my  boat,  when  her  ma  let 
me  take  her  out,  — '  I  tell  you,  when  I  get  to  be  a 
grown  -  up  woman  I  'm  goin'  out  there  and  just 
teach  those  people  better.' 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.  321 

"  '  Did  you  ever  hear  about  Judson  ?  '  says  she. 
'  No,'  says  I ;  *  was  he  a  sea-cap'n  ?  ' 

"  '  He  was  a  missionary,'  says  she,  real  solemn : 
'  a  missionary ;  and  that 's  what  I  'm  going  to  be  ; 
and  you  '11  take  me  out  there  in  your  ship,  won't 
you,  cap'n  ? '  says  she.  *  And  oh,  I  'm  goin'  to  take 
a  whole  trunk  full  of  story-books  for  all  those  poor 
little  girls  that  have  to  get  married  and  don't  have 
any.' 

"  Wai,  wal,"  he  continued,  as  he  filled  his  pipe, 
"  she  begun  it  young,  'n  I  war  n't  a  mite  surprised 
when  I  heerd  she  'd  got  her  money  and  see  what 
she  was  a-beginnin'  to  do  for  those  nasty  Italians 
down  to  the  Mulberry  Bend.  She  never  forgits 
anybody,  Millie  don't  Excuse  me,  I  s'pose  I  orter 
say  Mis'  Everett  now.  She  's  been  a-talkin'  to  me 
about  the  sailors ;  says  when  we  git  out  to  sea  she 
wants  a  long  talk  with  me  about  'em ;  wants  to 
know  what  they  read,  and  everything  of  that  sort." 

"  And  that  is  the  way  she  proposes  to  turn 
pagan,"  I  soliloquized. 

The  last  day  had  come,  and  we  were  on  board 
the  ship.  Mildred,  in  her  long,  gray  ulster  and 
bright  steamer  hood,  paced  the  deck  arm  in  arm 
with  me,  taking  her  last  look  at  the  bridge,  the 
towers  and  spires,  the  bronze  goddess  looming  up 
against  the  blue,  and  all  the  dear,  familiar  sights. 
The  sky  was  cloudless ;  the  soft  south-wind  gently 
swelled  the  white  sails  overhead;  the  sea,  the  fawn- 
ing, treacherous  sea,  shone  brilliantly  in  the  golden 
sunlight  and  seemed  to  murmur  caressingly  in  our 


322         MEMOIRS  OF  A    MILLIONAIRE. 

ears,  as  if  to  beguile  us  to  forget  its  cruel  power 
hidden  for  the  time  under  this  shining  mask. 

We  paced  up  and  down  in  silence,  breaking  it 
now  and  then  by  trying  to  say  the  last  words, 
which  were  so  hard  to  speak.  Ralph  had  kindly 
gone  below,  ostensibly  to  look  after  a  hamper  of 
fruit.  There  was  a  lump  in  my  throat;  I  could 
not  speak. 

How  was  it  that  this  woman,  whom  I  had  met 
but  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  had  come  to  be 
nearer  to  me  than  any  kith  or  kin  ?  Life  had 
broadened,  had  grown  rich,  since  her  life  had  come 
into  mine.  In  my  little  narrow  routine,  fashioned 
according  to  the  demands  of  society  and  its  con- 
ventionalities, I  had  never  before  dreamed  of  its 
possibilities, 

Mildred  tried  to  talkT  but  I  could  not  answer. 
At  last,  breaking  down  completely,  I  sobbed  out, 
"Oh,  Mildred,  Mildred,  I  cannot  let  you  go.  I 
have  no  one  in  the  wide  world  but  you.  You  will 
never,  never  come  back." 

I  had  meant  to  be  brave  and  not  to  sadden  these 
last  moments  by  my  selfish  grief,  but  a  sudden 
premonition  of  evil  had  taken  hold  of  me.  I  was 
not  superstitious,  but  I  felt  a  convulsive  clutch  at 
my  heart  as  I  looked  up  into  her  beautiful  dark 
eyes  through  the  mist  in  my  own. 

"  Don't  be  morbid,  darling,"  said  she,  trying  to 
speak  cheerfully,  and  drawing  my  arm  closer  in  her 
embrace.  But  her  voice  sounded  to  me  strange 
and  far  away. 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         323 

"  There  are  few  women  ever  blessed  with  such  a 
sister  as  you  have  been  to  me,"  she  said  tenderly. 
"  You  alone  among  women  have  made  me  feel  this 
last  year  that  you  loved  me  for  myself,  and  would 
have  loved  me  just  the  same  were  I  the  lonely 
teacher  among  my  books  instead  of  a  favored, 
flattered,  rich  woman.  Others  have  given  me  adu- 
lation, you  have  given  me  love.  And  now,  dear, 
that  you  may  know  that  I  know  how  real  a  sister 
you  have  been  to  me,  until  we  meet  again  wear  this 
for  me." 

I  saw  the  red  gleam  of  the  rare  jewel  in  her 
white  hand,  as  over  my  finger,  held  in  her  own 
warm  grasp,  she  slipped  the  ruby  ring,  her  dead 
sister's  ring  which  I  had  always  seen  her  wear. 

I  said  no  word  of  thanks.  I  scarcely  realized 
what  she  had  done.  I  was  dumb  with  the  misery 
of  those  moments  —  a  death's-knell  seemed  sound- 
ing in  my  ears. 

AVe  paced  on  again  in  silence,  letting  the  pre- 
cious moments  pass.  Presently  she  said,  as  if  in 
reply  to  the  wild  outburst  of  emotion  which  had 
passed  and  left  me  numb  and  speechless,  "Yes, 
dear,  it  may  be  as  you  fear.  Whether  we  meet 
again,  God  only  knows.  But  whether  it  be  you  or 
I  that  goes  first  into  the  great  wonderful  Beyond, 
of  which  we  have  so  often  talked,  I  think  we  shall 
not  be  sorry,  we  shall  not  be  afraid. 

"  '  For  from  the  things  we  see 
We  trust  the  things  to  be, 
That  in  the  paths  untrod. 


324          MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE. 

And  the  long  days  of  God, 
Our  feet  shall  still  be  led, 
Our  hearts  be  comforted. ' 

"  But  life  is  sweet,  oh,  so  sweet.  I  want  to  live, 
there  is  so  much  to  do,"  said  Mildred  earnestly. 
Yet  in  a  moment  she  added,  hastily,  "  But  what 
folly  for  me  to  fancy  that  /  am  needed  to  do  the 
work. 

"  '  Others  shall  sing  the  song, 
Others  shall  right  the  wrong, 
Finish  what  I  begin, 
And  all  I  fail  of,  win.'  " 

We  said  no  more,  but  still  paced  the  deck  to- 
gether, looking  at  sea  and  shore  and  sunny  sky, 
finding  no  words  to  tell  of  all  that  was  in  our 
hearts. 

At  last  the  signal  was  given,  and  the  tug  that 
was  to  carry  me  back  to  the  city  steamed  along- 
side. I  knew  that  the  moment  of  parting  had 
come,  and,  like  an  exile  summoning  all  his  fortitude 
to  help  him  take  bravely  the  last  step  across  the 
border  line  which  divides  him  from  home  and 
country,  I  said,  calmly,  "  Well,  dear,  — 

"  '  If  we  do  meet  again,  why,  we  shall  smile  ; 
If  not,  why,  then,  this  parting  were  well  made.' 

I  felt  her  warm,  red  lips  against  my  cheek.  I 
heard  Ralph's  strong  "  God  bless  and  keep  you, 
little  sister,"  and  then,  almost  before  I  knew  it,  I 
had  slipped  over  the  vessel's  side,  and  they  were 
gone.  .  I  saw  them  wave  a  last  adieu.  I  saw,  as 
in  a  dream,  the  white  -  winged  ship,  bearing  its 


MEMOIRS   OF  A   MILLIONAIRE.         325 

precious  freight,  sail  out  into  the  dazzling  east,  over 
the  dimpling  sea,  the  shimmering,  golden  sea,  the 
cruel,  cruel  sea. 

There  is  no  more  to  tell.  The  world  knows  the 
rest.  Seven  days  of  calm  weather,  and  then  from 
the  coral  reefs  of  the  southern  sea  to  the  rocky 
headlands  of  the  north,  the  storm-king  raged. 
Madly  the  fierce  Atlantic  lashed  its  waves  on  cliff 
and  beach  and  sunken  ledge,  sending  dumb  terror 
to  the  hearts  that  had  seen  their  loved  ones  go 
down  unto  the  sea  in  ships. 

Somewhere  on  that  wild  waste  of  waters,  whether 
in  the  chill,  gray  dawn  or  in  midnight  blackness, 
amid  the  lightning's  flash  and  thunder's  peal,  — 
God  only  knows,  —  a  little  ship  went  down.  And 
when  the  sharp,  swift  summons  came,  two  brave 
hearts  went  forth  together  into  the  great  Unseen, 
knowing  of  a  surety  that  this,  thank  God,  was  not 
the  end  —  only  the  end  of  the  beginning. 


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